


Anime Addventure : Emperor Ranma of Mongo

by tutcat



Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga), Flash Gordon (1980), Ranma 1/2
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-05-21
Packaged: 2018-11-03 09:41:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 75,570
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10964634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tutcat/pseuds/tutcat
Summary: as it says





	1. Outers fight

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: The Meeting With the Emperor   
by Kestral

Neptune noted something and frowned.

Uranus noticed and glanced around nervously. Okay, maybe the mechanical samurai were just low level drones. There were a freaking LOT of them, however. "What is it?" She was, of course, thinking of intuition and sneak attacks.

"Beethoven's Pastorale," said Neptune with a frown. "They are playing good music and it is not suitably villainous music."

"It's kinda nice," offered Saturn.

"That's what's bugging me," admitted Neptune. "I focus on this Emperor, hoping to get some sense of his evil. Nothing. There's evil all around us but none of it is Great Evil. There's one or two that seem to be Wanna Be Great Evil But Can't Quite Manage It and some Fairly Evil In A Specialized Manner but I'm not getting anything that really qualifies as a Major Menace."

"Maybe they've found a way to block you," said Uranus hopefully.

K-SHANG! K-SHANG! K-SHANG! K-SHANG!

The Senshi watched as a gigantic robot took up a position along their route and stood at attention.

Saturn was the first to speak. "They have Gundam units?"

KANG! KANG! KANG! KANG!

Their heads barely clearing the feet, the Senshi walked past the giant robots of Ranma's childhood, translated by the Artificial Intelligence of the Imperial Automated Factories into reality. Sort of. They might just look the same since a lot of the technology just wasn't up to creating an exact copy.

Saturn, who was slightly more into anime (a result of staying home sick a lot), started naming them off. "Deathscythe Gundam, Orguss, Full Metal Siren, Heavy Metal L-gaim, Dangaioh, Patlabor Griffin..."

Uranus leaned close to Pluto. "Uhm. Pluto-san. Our Senshi uniforms are bulletproof, right?"

"...Grand Mazinger, Gigantor, Getter Robo..."

"I don't think it's ever come up," said Pluto as she saw two giant robots unfurl a banner between them that read "Welcome Beloved Princesses". "I don't think we've ever had invading aliens throw us a welcoming party."

"...the original Gundam, those three are from Armored Trooper Votoms, Tobikage..."

"They look so beautiful and exotic and... elegant!" came a call from within an appreciative murmur in the crowd.

Saturn blushed, Uranus looked bewildered, Pluto accepted it in good grace, and Neptune couldn't help but pose.

"...Fusion-maru from Granzort, Iczer-robo, Giant Robo," continued the blushing Saturn. "Knight Of Gold from 'Five Star Stories'..."

"This is just so wrong," grumbled Neptune as soon as she could mutter loud enough for Uranus to overhear. "The Evil Overlord is not supposed to serve tea and biscuits. They are not supposed to welcome the heroes and get all their oppressed people and minions to cheer as we come in."

"You'd rather fight your way through these crowds?" Uranus said out of the corner of her mouth.

"If you'll come this way," offered General Mille as they came to a palace. "The Emperor will see you in a few minutes."

While standing at the door waiting for the crowd next to the throne room to part, Saturn asked a question to Uranus. "Do we really have to attack full power the moment we see him?"

"Yes. That way we can get away in the confusion after he's dead," said Uranus.

General Mille twitched as she overheard this. On spotting a minor minion she didn't like approaching the throne, she decided to see if this were just a joke or if one of their Emperor's enemies had brainwashed his "fiancees". Same basic build, same basic look, turning face away from them... now. "See, there he is now. Emperor Ranma."

"WORLD SHAKING!"

"DEEP SUBMERGE!"

"...dead... scream..."

"SILENCE GLAIVE SURPRISE!"

Seeing the janitor get exploded for no apparent reason, the crowd of generals, minions, robots, court attendees, and went silent.

General Mille stepped back and drew her drug whip, checking the supply of medication that could be induced into a target through the small needles in the tip. "They've been brainwashed by the enemy! They're out to kill the Emperor!"

The crowd responded by: 

all combat personnel and a good amount of the crowd playing beat down on the Senshi. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: The Return Of Doctor Zakharov!  
by Kestral

They were strong, powerful, and the enchantments on them were likewise powerful.

They were not bulletproof, however.

Bullets went into Sailor Neptune's chest with only slightly less effect than if she'd been untransformed.

Sailor Uranus yelled and turned to run through the robot soldier who had killed Neptune, only to be hit with enough voltage to light up the Tokyo Tower. She fell.

Sailor Saturn had Mille's whip wrapped around her neck, and the poison was causing the younger girl to slump.

A few moments later, Sailor Pluto fell, a spear emerging between her breasts.

"They'll live," said General Mille, "if we get them into surgery. We'll do the programming and genetic manipulation while they're unconscious."

"Interesting powers from these mortals," rumbled General Grim as he moved forward. "I wonder how many more are present on that world and if any can be recruited to our cause."

"We shall have to see on that," agreed General Mille.

Mongo was an odd collection of technologies, cultures, and lifestyles.

Take equal parts of German aristocracy, Chinese bureaucracy, Mongol Horde mentality, and some 1001 Nights Pseudo-Arabian Fantasy. Add a dash of Klingon Empire, a teaspoon of Starcraft, a helpful heaping of Japanese feudalism. Set blender to high.

Part of the problem was that in the Babylonian fashion - Mongo took whatever it liked from each culture that had been added through conquest (Ming and Yan) or negotiation and mutual benefit (Wang) or through other methods. There was a mechanism for incorporating new elements, but no mechanism for removing old elements.

A lot of the peasantry lived in pseudo-medieval lifestyles, and yet since Wang's rule their educational standard was more late 1800s. Medicine was more along the line of AD 2200. Mongo had Cloud City and Giant Robots, fantasy style castles, bloodsport arenas, cyborg warriors (a recent addition that Ming would have loved), grav cycles, horse-drawn carriages, steam engine trains - but you get the picture.

Mongo was an Empire. If one used the concept of alignment, then it tended to be Lawful Neutral, with the Emperor mainly setting the tone. In which case:

Ruler D&D Rifts/Pall.   
Ming NE Diabolic   
Wang LG Scrupulous   
Yan LE Aberrant   
Short Ruled One CN Anarchist   
So it was the same Mongo that Dr Zakharov had fought against alongside Dale Arden and Flash Gordon, but it had changed a bit since those days.

Doctor Zakharov had returned to Earth at the same time as Dale and Flash, had attended their wedding, and seen their child grow up.

Doctor Zakharov himself had been in his early 40s when he and Flash and Dale had all gone to Mongo in 1927. So in 1992, the 105 year old Doctor Zakharov was sitting in a wheelchair in a retirement home when he saw the TV footage of "flying saucers" and recognized the emblem of Mongo.

After coming out of sedation (a nurse heard him ranting about evil oriental warlords and gave him a quick nap), Doctor Zakharov realized he had about as much chance of rescuing the world now as he did of being able to run in the Olympics.

He was 105. One hundred and five. He had osteoarthritis, his mind tended to wander, his eyesight was a good deal worse than it had been in 1927, his teeth were in a jar by his bedside, he had a little bottle of oxygen he carried around with him... he was in good shape for his age but that didn't get around that he WAS his age.

There was only so much you could do once you'd passed the century mark. Jumping chasms, swinging on ropes, climbing over precipices, taking high g turns in a grav-speeder, fighting off giant insects from the jungles of Mongo with a shoelace and a wet t-shirt... oh wait. He'd never been able to do that last one. Whatever. He certainly couldn't do it now.

Not for the first time, the scientist wished that balding scientific geniuses got the girl - in this case it was because if he'd ever gotten the girl he might have an heir that he could send off to battle Ming's Hordes. Or Wing. Or whoever the heck it was. Wing, Ming, Ching, Bing - who the heck cared?! Someone had to fight the evil hordes!

Getting his walker, Doctor Zakharov prepared to rush out and fight for truth and justice! Why continue to rot away in the Shady Hills Old Folks Home when he could go out in a blaze of glory?!

The one called Saturn had the fewest injuries, merely some bruising and some paralytic drugs in her system.

General Mille had been reluctant to use the various sexual devices on one so young, but while mapping out the girl's neural net had found some promising tendencies.

The others had been repaired by Doctor Wutang, someone General Mille often... consulted with. If his work was up to his usual standards here, Madeline Mille decided she'd have to... consult with the doctor very enthusiastically afterwards.

Damage had been repaired, and new organs emplaced. The cyberneticist/gynecologist/general surgeon had worked with his team to place special devices in the fiancees.

Mille had to admit that whoever had reprogrammed these fiancees had done a thorough job. They had even provided a false past and erased their previous memories! They would be able to restore only bits and pieces from what they knew or could guess.

Though working with General Grim and Doctor Wu Tang, the possibility of cloning these four into an army of magical warriors could not be discounted. They'd have to see if it worked out.

Mille shook her head. Further interviews with the Imperial Mother had revealed more of Akane's character, and little of it was obvious with the readings they had.

"General Mille," said an Aide, saluting smartly in her own leather uniform. "We have reports from units five and seven.... err. They both report having captured the fiancees of Emperor Ranma."

General Mille shrugged. "Bring them in. We'll sort the details out later."

Who are these new captured girls? 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: False Impressions   
by Kender

On a ship heading to Mongo, a team of soldiers were bringing a group of girls who were they were certain were the fiancees of the Emperor. It had taken them a great deal of time and energy, but they had finally succeeded in what they had been tasked to accomplish. Soon their Emperor would be reunited with the girls and those who had returned them to him would be rewarded for what they had done.

Meanwhile, the girls were primarily sticking to themselves, which fit the soldiers just fine.

"You realize that I'm missing my game to be kidnapped by a bunch of space aliens in weird outfits?" growled Megumi Morisato to the girl next to her.

Sayoko Mishima shrugged and smirked. "It's simple, so relax. We go along with this for now, get pampered by royalty, while we wait to explain that you're not this 'Akane' girl and I'm not named 'Kodachi'."

"They promised that they'd have lots of fish!" chirped Nuku-Nuku.

"Why am I here?" asked Yuka.

_____

On another transport, other soldiers thought that they were transporting to their fiance, the Emperor, and these girls were also whispering between themselves.

"I blame you for this," Motoko Aoyama told the girl sitting to her side.

Mitsune Konno put up her hands. "Hey, how was I to know that these guys would have no sense of humor and actually think that I was this 'Akane' girl?"

"The reason why they should have been told that my name isn't 'Shampoo' and Motoko's isn't 'Kodachi'," muttered Naru Narusegawa.

"Um... Why did they call me 'Ukyo'?" asked Mutsumi Otohime.

_____

Saturn was waking up. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Waking Saturn   
by Kestral

General Mille was aware of Saturn waking and went to the young girl's trainer.

Her taste didn't run that young, and she was fairly sure that the Emperor didn't fancy them that young either, but this Saturn girl held the promise of great beauty and already had great power. With those two considerations, it was easy to see why the Emperor would have chosen to "reserve" such a girl.

Besides, this was quite obviously a nice girl, and there were definite uses for such around the Castle. Another obvious difference between herself and the new Emperor - as she definitely preferred naughty.

The still groggy Saturn was brought to the handmaidens, who quickly led her into the day spa. She'd be expertly groomed and made up, dressed in appropriate clothing, and otherwise prepared. Though it would take a few years for her to be ready to properly consummate her marriage at least physically.

"Saturn?" General Mille asked, waiting for the unfocused girl to look up at her. "What are your feelings on the Emperor?"

"I love my Emperor, Ranma Saotome, with all my heart and soul," distantly whispered Saturn. She repeated it again with more conviction and strength, and then a third time with absolute conviction and looking the General straight in the eye.

General Mille nodded. It looked like the conditioning had taken. Due to the methodology, the girl's own mind would maintain and reinforce those commands.

 

how many "fiancees" this Ranma had had. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Lookin' Around   
by Kender

"Privates Hac and Slaz reporting, Ma'am," said the the first of the two soldiers standing before her. Between them was a pallet bearing an attractive young woman who was currently unconscious.

"And who would this be?" asked General Mille as she gazed over the figure.

"She's one of the Emperor's fiancees," replied the second soldier.

"Is she now?"

"Oh yes! She was all like we were told on the list. Right Hac?"

"Uh-uh. And she was pretty strong too. Not a lot of moves, but she hit Slaz pretty hard..," commented the first soldier.

"Got me good too. See?"

"I'll... take your word for it. But none of the teams came to help you?" asked Mille.

"They were busy," Hac told her.

Slaz nodded. "They were getting the others."

"'The others?'"

"The rest of the fiancees."

Subduing a twitch in her eyebrow, she waved the two men on. "Take her on. I have much to do."

"Aye aye Ma'am," chorused the soldiers as they took Natsume Tsujimoto away with them.

_____

"Are you sure about that one?" asked one soldier to the next.

"She fits the profile, doesn't she?" his comrade replied.

"I guess, but do you think that it's really her?"

"Yeah, but who is that guy that she is with?"

"Who cares?"

"She does apparently."

"That's a really damn big mallet."

WHAM!

"And that must have hurt."

"But it seems that we won't have to deal with that 'Ryo Saeba' guy."

"Yeah, but use the stun on the girl, 'cause I don't want to explain to the Emperor why this 'Kaori Makimura' girl got hurt."

_____

"You want me to go and see your emperor?" asked Sakura Kasugano.

"Uh-huh," said the smiling man in the weird outfit in front of her.

"Why?"

"Oh, I'm certain that he'd just love to have you there."

"He would?"

"Oh most certainly."

_____

"Your name is Akane," said the soldier to the girl before him.

"Yeah..."

"Well then, I'm supposed to bring you to the palace."

"What?"

"Those are my orders."

"Some really screwy orders there," muttered Akane Kasuga.

"Sorry, but I have to follow them."

"Yeah..."

one of the other girls was awakening for Mille's personal touch. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Ranma's new friends    
by Ranma-mite

General Mille welcomed the technician in. 

One of those cultures added by Wang had been the machine culture of Teknos. Wang had used logical persuasion, and they had joined the Empire to contribute their portion and become the master technologists of Mongo. They were machines themselves, somewhat more advanced than the ones they churned out - but as they could not reproduce themselves (being left overs from a now vanished humanoid species) this was a concern they continued to address. 

The Technician was named THX-1138. Mille called him "Ted". 

"The equipment seems to work as specified, Ted, thank you," said the General. As Ted was a sexless humanoid robot, Mille was polite and respected the Technician's expertise. 

"Statement: Was built to your specifications," answered Ted. "Statement: This unit does not understand functioning. Reason for visit with: Mille, General - Request rationale." 

"Hmmm," Mille began to try and figure out how to explain a seraglio to a species that did not practice sex. "Do you understand the basics of humanoid reproduction?" 

"Statement: male + female direct physical interface. Exchange of bodily fluids in inefficient process sometimes results in male fertilization of female's ova. Cloning tanks such as are being constructed on Level 12, Subsection 32, Corridor B, would be substantially more efficient." 

"Yes, but not as much fun," qualified Mille as she pondered how to put this. She checked the timers and sat back against the trainer of the one called Pluto. "The, uhm, stimulation of certain, err, areas by another individual as they, eh, 'interface' can be quite, uhm, stimulating. Fun and exciting. Causing pleasure for both or all individuals concerned." 

"Statement: Ted can see how this would work as evolutionary incentive for continued matings and procreation of species." 

"Quite," drily said the General. "In any case, it is a tradition of the Emperors since Ming, with the exception of Yan who apparently was unable to do much in that arena, to take Princesses or representatives from each subject nation and add these to his seraglio. His harem, as it is also called." 

"Query: hostage value?" 

"In some cases," admitted Mille. "Wang didn't go that route much himself. He wanted to be liked and to bring this 'new prosperity' to Mongo and the world. He went with the seraglio anyway due to tradition, but wanted them to be happy. Yan probably saw them as potential hostages if the subject race went into rebellion. Our current Emperor - Ranma, wants them to be his elite bodyguards as well as his harem. From meeting him, I expect he's a bit like Wang and wants them to be happy and will do much towards their own gratification and pleasure." 

"Query: Teknos has not supplied towards this 'seraglio', should a unit be reconfigured for this purpose?" 

"I don't think it would be quite the same," answered Mille. "You'd have to be able to come very close to a flesh-and-blood female for it to work at all." 

The robot nodded. There were just over 1000 of his people, so perhaps their numbers were not up to such a task? It would have to be looked into at the very least. 

"Now tell me, since you're here," Mille lightly tapped the box she was sitting on. "Did you follow my directions exactly?" 

"Answer: Affirmative," agreed the technician. "Virtual reality training and chemical processing is tied directly into brain and biochemical scanning. As the virtual reality goes on, the subject is given pain/discomfort for incorrect thoughts and fighting programming. Correct thought patterns and accepting programming is rewarded by direct stimulation of limbic system pleasure centers determined by scans. Utilizing time shift technology and subjective time in VR, subject undergoes months of training within hours. Subject's own mind is trained to accept programming and to avoid incorrect thinking. Once initial programming is complete, subject will respond positively to additional programming." 

Mille nodded happily. She almost envied the young Princesses. "And the programming?" 

"Exposition: major programming points towards love and obedience towards Emperor. While this unit does not understand concept 'love' - subjects do and General Mille's descriptions were encoded as given. Subject will love and adore Emperor per definitions given. Subject will live for Emperor, and as bodyguards may die for Emperor, though latter will be avoided when possible. Subject will obey Emperor Ranma and will be completely devoted to his pleasure and wellbeing. Query: This is sufficient?" 

Mille nodded and glanced at the gauges. "Ooooh. It looks like another of the Emperor's mates is ready to emerge. This might be fun. Ted, if you will go over into that corner and remain quiet, you may observe." 

Always interested in more information, Ted rolled off to the corner and prepared to record the events as General Mille licked her lips and prepared to release: 

 

Uranus 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Pigs in space!   
by Kestral

Ranma dodged, leapt, rolled, and generally tried to avoid becoming a meal.

The stavanger clawed, bit, and attacked in a frenzied and increasingly frustrated manner.

Finally Ranma slammed the beast, using a Chestnut Fist and slamming the blows repeatedly into the sensitive area between the eyes.

The beast fell, armor plates of horn rasping against the sands of the Arena Of Death.

"Very good sir, would you be caring for dinner or would you prefer a bath?" The slightly furry tribesman (Wolf tribe) asked of the new Emperor.

"Dinner?!" Ranma pondered that. "I guess it is getting kinda late."

"Yes sir, as sir was enjoying himself, this one did not feel inclined to interrupt." The Wolfman made a gesture towards one of the doors. "The Emperor's Mother made requests of the chefs. Tonight is seafood pulled from the moon of Oceania specifically for your plate."

"Oh? Send 'em my thanks," said Ranma. "I'm famished!"

"Very good sir," repeated the wolfman.

Ranma nodded. This place wasn't bad at all. He got to show off practice his skills, keep up the martial arts and stuff, eat staggering amounts of good food, and take a nap whenever he felt like it.

He wondered what the old crew was doing. Nah, they were probably all happy to be rid of him.

General Mille reached up languorously and hit the intercom button. "I'll need a new uniform. How are those replacement uniforms coming?"

"Suitable materials have been found. Prototypes ready for your inspection by 0600 tomorrow morning," responded a sibilant voice.

"Make it 0900, I'll be sleeping in," said the General. She switched settings on the knob, her movements causing her companion to stir. "Ted?"

"Statement: Estimate Cloning Chambers operational 2100 hours. Estimate first clones begin by 2300 hours. Full functionality in 1360 hours."

"That's great, Ted, but it wasn't my question," answered General Mille as her companion groaned and stirred further.

"Query: nature of call?"

General Mille smiled lazily as a shorthaired blonde fell off her bed. "Quality control."

Meanwhile, deep in space:

Space is big. Really big. Really really big.

It's one thing to say the run down to your corner pub is a long distance, but compared to interstellar distances - that's peanuts. Light travels at a speed of 186,000 miles per second, and it takes years to get anywhere on an interstellar basis. Centuries to get around just in the neighborhood. Going to the pub on the edge of the galaxy could take a thousand or more. Go to a nearby galaxy and the numbers in front of that light year get so oomphing big that lightyear and parsec doesn't cut the mustard either.

Why bring up why so oomphing bloody big space is?

Because in a spaceship built by Doctor Zakharov and piloted by Flash Gordon back in the 20s, there was a little black piglet. Said little black piglet had gone off to save the universe, been splashed when the drinking fountain that hadn't been serviced in 80 years broke, and wasn't the best navigator in the quadrant.

Which is why we have things going on on the planet of Mostly Harmless Earth, on Mongo, and on a spaceship careening wildly away from either of these planets were a little black pig had gotten lost and was trying to find his way back to the navigation panel. Which was confounded even worse by the fact that there were no computers on board, one did the navigational calculations with a slide rule.

So, even if Ryouga Hibiki could find the correct controls, he would have enormous problems finding the correct planet. The odds were... astronomical?

General Mille looked over her new crop of Princesses and licked her lips. Being a quality control supervisor was such a difficult task and only one of her duties.

She loved her job.

Even Ming hadn't had this many concubines. Nor had they typically been armed. This whole idea of the harem guarding (as well as doing other things with) the Emperor's body had some definite merits.

Well, actually Ming had his problems if the records were any indication.

The Senshi empowerment was still being researched but the loyalty to their Empress had been switched to the Emperor.

General Mille left that pleasing site to attend a board meeting. She was the one who had called it, after all.

Upon reaching the General Staff Conference Room, she cut through the talk of their various problems by dropping a verbal bombshell.

"Gentle Beings, not only do we have the Enemy on one moon, we have a new Enemy. Though the two may be related. As you know, several magically empowered girls tried to kill the Emperor. During interrogation and reprogramming, it was discovered they were elite soldiers of an Empire and preparing to invade!"

When the objections, questions, and invective had run down, Mille gave a brief description of this 'Moon Kingdom' and that they had an artifact of some kind that could apparently blow planets up.

"They have not struck us yet other than to send assassins disguised as seraglio candidates," rumbled General Grimm. "I suggest we declare war and quickly move to cut down this Empress before she can unleash her main weapon."

"I think it would be better to capture these young ladies, reprogram them, and add them to the seraglio," said General Mille. "Not only does it have a certain ironic justice - but it would strengthen our own forces and holding."

Ted, as representative of Teknos, put in his own two cents. "Statement: difficulties in subverting the will of someone used to wielding that much power. Query: Earth Moon Empress has weaknesses exploitable?"

"Many," purred General Mille. "If struck down before she can power up and access the artifact - she is as vulnerable as any human."

"I think perhaps we overly hasty are," said one of the lizardmen. "More information we need. Treaty made by Zakharov and Gordon - no attack the Earth."

"They are not officially Earth government," argued Mille.

Ted clicked briefly. "Statement: analysis of powers of assassins has been undertaken with General Grymn of The Imperial Sorcerie Office. Possibility of duplicating process of empowerment exists, if not -possible jamming of power source."

"If we wait too long, they will attack again, and in force," warned Mille.

"The Emperor is still new to his duties," pointed out a gilled humanoid. "This is a bit much to hit him with."

The eventual decision was: 

General Mille gets her way. Now to "recruiting" this Moon Empress and her bodyguard. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Hunting Inners   
by Kender

"Why are we sneaking around like this?" asked Wedge as he and his commander made their way through an area of their Emperor's home city.

Biggs sighed. "Because those were General Mille's orders."

"I know that, but why did she give them?"

"How am I supposed to know? All that I was told was that they have some kind of power that makes them dangerous if they detect us."

"But they could have sent down the rest of the troops..."

"Which would have alerted them to what we are trying to do. And remember that we were the ones who brought those girls for the Emperor.

"It was an honest mistake..."

"Well, we don't get many of those."

"Yeah."

"So we have to find these other girls. Once do, we call in a team and they will get her quietly and undetected. Got it?"

"Yup. But there is one thing."

"What?"

"There's one right here," Wedge said and pointed.

His commander looked in the direction indicated and saw: 

Ami. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: To catch a senshi     
by Kestral

Many of their memories had been erased. Originally it had been thought that they were the original fiancees but brainwashed by the Enemy. Interrogation and the fact that dozens of other "fiancees" had been recovered led General Mille to report otherwise.

Still, many of their personal memories had been erased and new ones added, and there was the whole programming angle to consider.

Saturn, if she had not been with the Outers, might have gone along with this to some extent anyway. Maybe not being a member of a harem, but she had gotten a genuine Mongo Enterprises Oil Lamp as a souvenir for free, had been fed, and wowed by the giant robots and other items of this planet. As it was, she had been the first conversion due to a lack of life threatening injuries.

Now dressed again in her Senshi uniform, the young girl took a guard position and smiled a cute little smile as various Generals and official courtiers filed by. They were all mainly nice people, these other minions of her Master. Practically everyone who went by had a nice word for the young teenager with the vicious looking polearm. In fact, she kind of fit in here.

On the other side of the door leading to the Emperor's private chambers was Leona, looking quite nice in her homeland's brass-and-leather armor. She was holding a Mongolian Beam Axe, something Emperor Yan had come up with. It was essentially a blast rifle with an axe blade and spike combination. Shoot at distant targets, chop and spear at closer in opponents.

Saturn gave a happy little contented sigh as she felt she truly belonged here. Hopefully she would please the Emperor soon. She was a little too young, maybe, for the kind of pleasing she wanted to do, but she could stand guard!

Readouts on the capsules told the story. Still not the right fiancees. Mille wondered if the Earthers had something for an upset stomach. She had little doubt that when the Emperor was ready to meet his harem, that seraglio had BETTER have those fiancees he'd started out with!

It was a pity that the Senshi fication process had to be done at the same time due to time constraints, and that during the process all they were able to tell was (for the most part) what element was involved. Though there were exceptions such as with Kitsune.

There was also the positions to consider. Clearly the Emperor wanted his wives to work, which was actually a fairly novel idea being well received within the society at large. Not all would necessarily be suited for guard work, and some would have other positions that they could fill within the Emperor's retinue.

NAME: Megumi Morisato  
ARCHETYPE: Tomboy  
PROGRAMMING: 83.75%  
SPECIALTY: Sports (subcategory: softball); Motorcycle Maintenance  
SENSHI ELEMENT: Metal  
SKILL PACKAGES INSTALLED: Mongolian Technology Maintenance; Rifle Proficiency; Sexual Techniques - Basic  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Imperial Mechanic

NAME: Sayoko Mishima  
ARCHETYPE: Aristocrat  
PROGRAMMING: 92.8%  
SPECIALTY: None detected  
SENSHI ELEMENT: Air  
SKILL PACKAGES INSTALLED: Rifle Proficiency; Deportment; Sexual Techniques - Basic  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Overseer of Household Staff

NAME: Atsuko (Nuku Nuku) Natsume  
ARCHETYPE: Ingenue cyborg  
PROGRAMMING: 99.7%  
SPECIALTY: Combat Cyborg  
SENSHI ELEMENT: n/a. Insufficient cell mass to infuse with detectable results.  
SKILL PACKAGES INSTALLED: Mantarian "Panzer Fist" Martial Arts; Basic Combat; Sexual Techniques - Basic  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Personal bodyguard - elite

NAME: Yuka Miyamoto  
ARCHETYPE: Bewildered noncombatant  
PROGRAMMING: 82.4%  
SPECIALTY: None Detected  
SENSHI ELEMENT: Weak atomic force  
SKILL PACKAGES INSTALLED: Basic HTH; Basic Combat; Sexual Techniques - Basic; Rifle Proficiency  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Household Maintenance

This first of the new groups had been in for the longest period and were the furthest along. She'd have to see if their uniforms were ready. As for that Sayoko, she thought she sensed a kindred spirit there.

NAME: Mitsune Konno (Kitsune)  
ARCHETYPE: Manipulative drunkard  
PROGRAMMING: 45%  
SPECIALTY: None Detected  
SENSHI ELEMENT: Shapeshifting  
SKILL PACKAGES: Basic HTH, Sexual Techniques - Advanced; Intelligence Gathering  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Espionage Agent

NAME: Naru Narusegawa  
ARCHETYPE: Violent nerd  
PROGRAMMING: 32%  
SPECIALTY: Scholar  
SENSHI ELEMENT: Uncertain.  
SKILL PACKAGES: Basic Combat; Deportment; Mongolian Technology Operation  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Technological Advisor

NAME: Shinobu Maehara  
ARCHETYPE: Nice girl  
PROGRAMMING: 87%  
SPECIALTY: Cooking, cleaning, studying  
SENSHI ELEMENT: Purification  
SKILL PACKAGES: Basic Combat; Basic Medical  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Nurse

NAME: Motoko Aoyama  
ARCHETYPE: tomboy samurai  
PROGRAMMING: 50%  
SPECIALTY: HTH Combat  
SENSHI ELEMENT: Ki  
SKILL PACKAGES: Sexual Techniques - Basic; Advanced Troop Combat  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Personal Bodyguard - elite

NAME: Mutsumi Otohime  
ARCHETYPE: Ditz  
PROGRAMMING 32%  
SPECIALTY: Turtlese, self-resurrection  
SENSHI ELEMENT: Hot water  
SKILL PACKAGES: Sexual Techniques - Basic; Basic HTH  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Household Maintenance

This second, larger, group taken from apparently the wrong suburb had a few definite possibilities. Sailor Kitsune would make an excellent spy for when such would be needed, as long as her alcohol dependence could be lessened. The Maehara girl was extremely young, but would provide a good playmate for that Saturn girl. The swordswoman certainly seemed a good warrior. That weird girl that kept dying and resurrecting herself was an anomaly though.

NAME: Natsume Tsujimoto  
ARCHETYPE: Gung ho motorhead  
PROGRAMMING:25%  
SPECIALTY: Motorcycle operation, above normal strength  
SENSHI ELEMENT: Earth  
SKILL PACKAGES: Advanced Combat, Sexual Techniques - Advanced  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Troop Leader - Palace Guard

At least four more candidates were around, but they'd only built so many of the units. Fortunately they had an old Mind Freezing Ray left over from Ming's days.

If they didn't find those girls...

Wait a minute.

Mille thoughtfully considered one of the displays. Why not use the new recruits to take over the hunt? Let's see. She had assigned Pluto to speak with Intel about further details of this Empress. Uranus and Neptune were assisting the other princesses in the use of their new powers. 

Why not use this as training?

"General Mille," the Meia-lookalike soldier entered her processing room and saluted. "Biggs and Wedge have located one of the Senshi and are requesting further instructions."

"Excellent," said General Mille before   
dispatching Haruka and Michiru to take care of that matter. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Maiden Voyages.    
by Greyman

"Oooooh, aarrghe!" moaned Michiru.  She had come to Mongo expecting to destroy an evil overlord in his lair.  "Uuuhhh!  Nooooo!  It's sooo big!"  She had not expected to become his sexual plaything.  "Yeeesss!  Arhe!  I'm going to cum!"  She certainly would never have expected to love it so.  "Oh, ohhh yesss!  Nhhhh!  Hhhaaarder!  Ff-faaster!  R... Raaannnmmmaaa!" 

Her green hair plastered to her body, skin glistening with sweat and pussy dripping with juice, Michiru looked anything but elegant when she collapsed onto the bed and sighed, "oh.  That was amazing!  Ahh!  Umm..." 

"I'm, uh, glad you liked it," murmured her blushing partner. 

"Oh, geeze," apologised Michiru.  "I'm so sorry.  It must have been weird me calling out your son's name like while we were ..." 

"Oh, d...don't worry about it," stammered Nodoka.  "L...let's forget all about it." 

"Okay," said Michiru with a wicked grin, licked her finger and extracted the toy from between her legs.  "How about I give you something else to think about... hmmm?" 

"'Kay," agreed Nodoka shyly as Michiru pressed her onto the bed.  She was still not used to the duties expected of an imperial mother, but determined to do a good job. 

"Phone call.  Ring!  Ring!  Phone call!" chimed the wall 'com. 

"Feh, it's always when you're in the shower or about to do a sexy woman," belaboured Michiru as the 'com window lit up. 

"Oh my, it looks like you two are getting along.  I'm sorry to interrupt your quality control, Lady Nodoka," apologised Mille's image, "but we need Harem Girl Michiru for some field testing." 

Michiru tried to recover her elegance, which was difficult while holding a dildo dripping with her sex juices.  "What kind of field testing?  Not that I don't mind the idea of outdoor sex but..." 

"Oh, nothing like that," Mille denied.  "Though I'll have to add that to the schedule.  No, we need your other services for this one." 

Swish!  Kaching!  Kaching!  Huffa!  Huffa! 

These were the only sounds to be heard on the bridge.  Silence fell across the deck as the double door swished open for the entrance of white armoured figures.  Over the clangour of their precision boot stomps only the ominous breathing of the lone dark armoured figure could be heard. 

"Hufa!  Hufa!"  The ominous figure surveyed the chamber for several moments.  "Hufa  Hu Hu... hack!"  Tearing off the helmet, Ranma gasped for breath and swore, "how the heck am I supposed to breath in this thing?  Whoever designed it needs to be taken out and shot!" 

"By your command," saluted General Grim. 

"Whatever," said a distracted Ranma as he turned to his companions.  "You guys can take those helmets off too, if you like." 

"Thank the moons," gasped Leona, Princess of Veldt, as she tore her helmet off.  "I couldn't see anything with that on anyway." 

"Ack! " exclaimed Ranma in surprise.  "You're all girls!" 

"What else would your Seraglio be?" demanded Umi, Princess of Oceana, then laughed drolly.  "Oh... Ha, ha!  Yeah, this gear does hide our girlish figures, doesn't it.  That's funny," she concluded without conviction. 

"Indeed, this armour is hardly suitable for your Seraglio, if I may say so, Milord," Trolla, Princess of Glacia agreed haughtily. 

"Feh, yeah," agreed Ranma while missing the point entirely, "ya just can't fight in this heavy gear, can ya.  I do not know what I was thinking agreeing ta wear it." 

"Indeed not," barked Lufy, Princess of Wolfen.  "We have some lightweight outfits in our chambers if you'd like to inspect us." 

"Um, oh, sure," Ranma committed himself, "later.  'Okay, General Grim, is this thing ship shape and sea...er, space worthy?" 

"The Yamato III is designed to resemble an ocean vessel as per your specifications," General Grim confirmed, "as much as possible.  The Technos experts have certified her and my men have familiarised herself with the controls.  We but await your command to begin the maiden voyage." 

"Alrighy then," Ranma exclaimed, waited then gave the command to,  "uh, make it go!" 

The Yamato III, designed, for reasons inexplicable to her crew, to resemble both a world war II battleship and an anime spaceship of the same name, glided sedately away from Cloud City then rocketed away leaving the usual trail of sparks and smoke of a Mongolian space ship. 

"Yatta!" Ranma exclaimed.  "Now, let's swing out to that ice moon and take a look." 

"But first," begged the Mongolian Princess, Dale, "let's swing by our quarters and put on something more comfortable!" 

"'kay," Ranma agreed heartily.  "'s a good idea." 

"You know," Michiru made conversation, "the standard tactic for this sort of thing would be to disguise ourselves as shopkeepers and secretly drain the energy of our customers until the inners stumble across us." 

"Then they would defeat us with courage, teamwork and dumb luck," Haruka agreed.  "Which is why we are not doing it that way." 

"Yeah," Michiru agreed.  "That's one reason I like this plan a whole lot better!" 

"She won't be expecting it, that's for sure," Haruka gloated.  "But why take on Sailor Mercury when we know where Ami Mizuno lives?" 

"I can't wait to get that lolicon girl with glasses into the training tubes," Michiru breathed.  "But what about her mother?" 

"Developing a thing for older women, are you?" accused Haruka snidely. 

"Nnn... no, not at all," Michiru denied hotly.  "But if she makes a fuss it will alert the others." 

"Whatever," Haruka smirked.  "Anyway, why not?  We can always find her a job in the palace as a maid or something." 

Haruka and Michiru pay the Mizuno household a visit. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Nonstandard tactics   
by Kestral

Haruka and Michiru waited, watching the lights in the penthouse. Doctor Mizuno and her child were getting ready for dinner.

"3, 2, 1," counted off Haruka eagerly.

Michiru smiled a little more. "Now we just keep an eye on the doors and windows to see if someone escapes."

"We specified odorless and colorless," reminded Haruka gently. "The knockout gas will reach saturation within one minute. Within two..."

"By the time we get up there, it'll be all over," agreed Michiru as she walked towards the building. Haruka opened the door for Michiru and a short elevator ride shortly followed.

Michiru took out the antidote pills and handed one to Haruka, swallowing the other herself.

From the elevator to the "penthouse" was another swift journey and the Mongolian Lockpick device operated quickly.

"Ah, I knew we had made the right choice," said Michiru as she flipped open her communicator. "Wedge. Two for pickup as planned. Get the cargo hauler to the balcony."

Mother and daughter were swiftly loaded and Wedge was soon loading the two locked cases onto the transport where they could be kept sedated.

"So which is next?" asked Michiru.

Snxxxxxxxxxx! answered Haruka.

Michiru shook her head at her fellow harem girl and took the antidote pill from the unresisting girl's hand and forced her to swallow it. In the meantime she thought the next target should be:

 

while Michiru decides that, let's visit - 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Project Princess on Parade.    
by Greyman

"What do you think of this one?" Lufy asked as she paraded passed in the latest of a long line of outfits.  When the request for uniforms had come up, Mille had not been certain whether the Princess Project should just copy the original senshi's designs, so she'd appointed a committee which consulted Nodoka who could not make up her mind either.  The result was a fashion parade of sentai-team fukus and harem costumes, skin tight plug suits and frilly peach-coloured wedding gowns; a display of cuteness or indecency, and little practicality. 

"It's fine," Ranma repeated.  He was beginning to see the advantages of heavy armor. 

These girls were weird and strange and not because of the alien nature.  They had no problem disrobing before him; actually seeming to want him to watch.  They encouraged him to comment on their bodies and seemed to value his opinion, though he quickly learned not to be disparaging.  Anger he could handle, but these girls just sulked when he was too honest. 

"This doesn't clash with my fur, does it?" Lufy asked as she modeled the pastel pink concoction. 

"It's fine," Ranma repeated. 

Then there was the sleeping arrangements.  He knew that bodyguards were supposed to stay close to the body they guarded, but they planned to not only sleep with him, but to sleep with him.  All of them.  Together even! 

They were competitive about it, but showed no signs of jealousy.  They ... got along. 

Lufy stamped her foot.  "If you are not going to pay attention, Milord, we may as well go around nude!  What do you think of that?" 

"It's fine," Ranma repeated. 

"Males!" Lufy pouted and stormed off to huddle with her harem sisters for a group sulk and cuddle. 

"Huh?" Ranma snapped out of it.  "Sheesh!  I'm sorry, but I've ... got other things on my mind." 

"Awe, poor baby," Dale consoled as she knelt on the bed behind him.  "You must be under a whole lot of pressure.  Let me help you to relax." 

"What are you...?  Oh, that's nice."  Ranma sighed with bliss.  Things were looking up if he could get backrubs out of the deal. 

"That's it, baby," Dale cooed.  "Just relax and let all the tension melt out of you." 

Ranma closed his eyes and let her fingers work the knots out of his muscles, ease his cares and worries, take off his shirt and undo ... 

Ranma's eyes snapped open and looked between his legs where Falca knelt with one hand around his member.  Then Dale pulled his head back and rested it against her breasts.  "Just relax and let us do all the work, okay, baby?" 

"'kay," Ranma said weakly as Falca's mouth set to work and the other Seraglio girls gathered round intent on joining the fun.  It did feel nice and what was he to do but let them have their wicked way with him?  Falca had him by the short and curlies so his mind and heart was due to follow. 

Hotaru pouted as she stood on guard duty with Steg.  She wasn't sure exactly what was going on inside the royal quarters, but knew that she was missing out on something.  Michiru and Haruka always sounded like they were having lots of fun when they disappeared into their thin walled bedroom; though Hotaru couldn't puzzle out why they needed rope, clothespegs and whipped cream for that. 

In due course, a rather worn and bedraggled looking Umi emerged to relieve her sister from Dune.  The Oceanian princess leaned back against the wall and sighed blissfully.  "By the Moons of Mongo, can that boy keep going and going and going...." 

"So, umn, what uniform did he decide on?" 

"Oh, uh, I dunno," Umi sighed and preened a webbed hand with her tongue.  "I guess we'll stick with those fuck you things for now." 

"Fuku," Hotaru corrected with a blush. 

"Did he ever!" Umi sighed blissfully. 

"..." Hotaru simmered. 

Meanwhile, Haruka and Michiru staked out another senshi for acquisition. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Felling A Tree   
by Kender

"How long do you think that it will take her to arrive?" Haruka asked Michiru as the two of them watched for the arrival of the individual that they had come for.

"Not long," the sea-green haired girl.

"It is getting pretty late."

"She'll be here."

"I know, but we haven't seen her yet."

"Yes, but... there she is now."

"Why yes she is," said the short haired blonde, "Let's go greet her."

"Yes, let's."

The two walked over to their target and Haruka put an arm around her. "Well, fancy meeting you here Makoto."

"This is where I live. What are you two doing here?"

"We just happened to be in the neighborhood, and thought that it might be nice to drop in."

"'Drop in'? Since when do you guys do that?"

"Oh, it was a spur of the moment thing, I assure you," Michiru told her.

"Um... That's different."

"Hey, why don't we take you somewhere special?" asked Haruka.

"Can I take a rain check? I'm kind of tired."

The arm around the brunette tightened. "You like this place a lot. We do. And you can sleep until we get there."

"I can?"

Michiru nodded. "In fact we insist on it," she told the younger girl and put a metal cylinder in front of her face, pressing a button on top of it. A small cloud of gas escaped from it and Makoto breathed it in before she could stop herself. Her eyes shut slowly and she slumped in Haruka's arms.

"She's out," the blonde said after checking the unconscious girl for a moment.

"I can tell," Michiru said and pulled out a communicator. "We have another one for transport Wedge. Bring the transport around for a pick up."

Soon they had brought the sleeping Makoto to the transport for loading while: 

 

the ship was heading towards the enemy occupied planet. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Let's have a look see.    
by Greyman

Hotaru was happy to accompany her new sempai as Ranma escaped from the clutches of the rest of his Seraglio and hid out attended a briefing as the Yamato entered orbit around the ball of ice known as Glacia.  He was grateful that at least one of his new bodyguards wouldn't want to do anything perverted with his body; though he wasn't sure what good anyone thought the little girl would do as a bodyguard. 

"So what are we looking at here?" Ranma asked. 

"The climate of the Ice moon of Glacia is practically a glacial ocean," General Grim explained.  "Humans of your species would freeze to death in three minutes without protective gear.  Even the Glacians preferred to avoid the surface as much as possible and settled in subterranean, or rather sub glacial, citadels carved out of glacial ice.  This is one such city, or rather, what's left of it." 

General Grim was a fellow who looked to be carved of living rock.  Ranma knew from all too intimate experience with Princess Graphite, that silicon based mantle was as flexible as skin but as tough as stone.  He couldn’t help wondering about applications of the breaking point technique used by or against Vulcanian humanoids.  At that moment, though, he had other things on his mind. 

"What happened to the people?" Ranma demanded as the robot drone prowled through deserted ruins.  The architecture of ice as a building material was interesting but Ranma was certain it shouldn't look that sterile. 

"Unknown," Grim said grimly.  "These are the first images we've had since the invasion.  During the last year of your predecessor’s tenure we started losing contact with various settlements on Glacia.  Nobody the Glacian's sent to investigate returned.  Then we sent heavily armed troops with the same result.  As the zone of silence spread the rest of the moon was evacuated.  Hopefully the robots you designed will be up to the task." 

"Mmm..." Ranma commented.  "Yeah, hopefully." 

While the Mongolian's attributed the new designs to a sign of otherwise hidden genius, Ranma had just sketched them into the computers and believed they did the design work.  But if he wanted giant robots built like gundams, zoids, droids or whatever, then by all but forgotten Great Will the fabricators would develop the capability to build them. 

Unlike the clunky robots of Ming's era, the units sent to investigate Glacia were designed for stealth and speed rather than shock troops and the Ai was somewhat more sophisticated than his "crush, kill, destroy, there will be no survivors," programming.  Those attributes stood them in good stead as they prowled the deserted streets and alleys of the ice city.  But for all that they had nothing to report beyond unusual absences. 

"It's like a ghost town," Hotaru observe with a shiver and moved closer to her sempai for comfort.  "It's scary."  Senshi of silence, harbinger of death and destruction, she might be, but she was still a little girl. 

"The abandoned city is well preserved," General Grim noted, "as the temperature has plummeted well below what even the Glacian's would consider comfortable.  But there appears to be nothing to preserve!  Even the hydroponic farms have been stripped of vegetation; which does not look promising for those hoping to find survivors, even though there are no bodies left behind." 

"Okay," Ranma considered after a somber pause, "but what about whatever did this?  Didn't they leave any tracks?" 

General Grim frowned.  "The 'ground' is solid ice.  Yet even so, heavy machinery, even transport vehicles, should have left some sign.  But the only trail is that of destruction of doors and walls." 

"Oh good," Ranma said, then explained.  "At least it is physical." 

"True.  That indicated that the enemy is is not a virus or occult phenomenon," Grim agreed. 

"'Kay," Ranma said.  "So what next?" 

 

The scene shifts back to Earth. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: The funny thing about the fiancees   
by Kestral

The roof of the Tendo house had a decoration thoughtfully provided by Nabiki.

"The fiancees you're looking for have moved. Go elsewhere."

It was a pity, perhaps, that most of those aliens coming to get said fiancees had taken that advice.

Reaction was still going on with the various fiancees.

Akane was still alternating between denying that she missed that pervert and fretting about alien tortures.

Ukyo was running her restaurant but had some calls to NASA about a rescue operation. So far they had not contacted her in reply.

Shampoo was trying to find some ancient artifact as Cologne might be a 300 year old martial arts expert and Amazon matriarch, but she didn't have anything handy for space travel.

Kodachi had been using her brother to test rockets. So far they'd all blown up long before escaping atmosphere. As one had blown up before liftoff, Kodachi and her brother were currently imbedded in walls.

"Oh, hi Rei. Long time no see," said Michiru. "Oh, what's that?"

Rei blinked and turned around to see that there was the usual set of charms and wards. "You've seen the ema before, haven't you? MMMMPH!?!"

Haruka had snuck up and as soon as Rei had turned back, had slapped a mask on Rei's face. It instantly clung and Rei began trying to grip and pry it off.

"They're right, that one Emperor must have been awfully ecchi," said Michiru as the doll mask's eyes closed and the layer of plastic spread. In moments a life-sized Rei doll clicked open blank eyes.

"Hmmm. Yes, this does seem a bit odd. Oh well, Wedge. One more for pick up." Haruka hefted the doll up and put her in a container.

"Rei, I..." Usagi came walking up and saw the two Outers and a large cargo container marked "Fresh Tarts - Handle With Care".

Usagi wonders if the tarts are good to eat. Haruka and Michiru assure her that this is the case. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Gumballs For Girls    
by Kender

"Oooh wow! Tarts!" said Usagi as she made her way up to the container.

"That's what the box says," Haruka told her.

"Are the tarts good to eat?"

"Yes they do," Michiru said.

"With the soft and tasty outside?"

"Yes."

"And the oh so gooey and stick to your chin filling?"

"Plenty of that."

The odango blonde gave the older girls a puppy dog look. "Can I have some?"

"I'm sorry..."

"Come on..."

"We can't."

"Just a nibble?"

"No, we can't.'

"Not even a lick or two?"

Haruka smirked at her. "Sorry, but we can't. But I can give you this... jawbreaker I have."

"Yay! Candy," said Usagi as she took the round object that the sandy haired girl had pulled out of her pocket.

"Go ahead, try it."

"Okay." Usagi took the ball, put it into her mouth and bit into it. But instead of letting out flavor, it did so with rubber. This rubber slipped all around her body, becoming bindings at her ankles and wrists, effectively hogtying her. The ball itself became a gag and a blindfold formed of from the material.

Looking towards each other, the two Outers smiled and called Wedge for another pickup while,: 

they tried to figure out how to get to the last of the Inners. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Completing sets   
by Kestral

Feeling like a chef preparing her latest masterpiece, Mille waited for the 

Ting!

to signal the newest trainee for the Seraglio.

It was a pity to have to send some girls back. That Akane Kasuga for example. Or Kaori Nakamura. While they could have reprogrammed them and enhanced them genetically, it was all for the better to just send them back with a souvenir and a partial memory wipe.

Sakura Kasugano, on the other hand, had been talking about several others of her acquaintance whom she thought would be perfect for the position. She gave details on how to find them.

With that, her own denials about wanting to become a Neo-Senshi were proven false obviously.

Now was Mille's favorite part as she rubbed off fluids from the groggy girl with a coarse towel. As programmed, the girl became very aroused very quickly. Yes, it was time for quality assurance.

"Minako!"

"Haruka-san, Michiru-san?" Minako blinked in surprise. "I didn't expect to see you here. Where's Rei?"

"She just left," said Haruka, as Rei's container had already been loaded.

"You just missed her," seconded Michiru.

"Oh darn," said Minako. "I was trying to get the answer to some homework from Ami but she isn't answering her communicator. Rei said I could come over and that she might know."

"Actually, it's convenient. I have something for you," said Haruka, holding up a package.

Minako practically pounced on the brightly wrapped package. "Ooooh! What's the occasion."

Again truthfully, Haruka replied. "When I saw it, I immediately thought of you."

"Oh wow!" Minako started ripping into the package, revealing a plain box under the wrapper. That also was ripped open.

Schumf

The gel quickly spread from her face to cover her entire body then slowly contracted.

"I'm so glad that our Emperor isn't into these things," said Michiru as she picked up one end of the Minako doll.

"At least we can get back to business and we won't have to babysit these kids anymore," remarked Haruka. "Wedge. We've got the last one. Need a pickup here."

The Princesses with their Neo-Senshi abilities weren't exactly wimps.

Leona could become a huge cave lion as Sailor Veldt.

Umi, Sailor Oceania, could conjure a high pressure stream of water.

Dale of the Mongolian tribes, Sailor Mongo, could form archaic weapons of magical energy.

Trolla, Sailor Glacia, had a powerful freezing attack.

Falca of the hawkmen, Sailor Raptor, had wind and lightning attacks.

Steg of the lizardmen, Sailor Dune, had a hypnotic gaze attack and dance.

Nebula, Sailor Mist, could generate a sleep fog.

Lufy, Sailor Wolfen, could psychically track.

Jaru, Sailor Dread, could generate magical darkness.

Graphite, Sailor Volcanus, had gravitational powers.

Hotaru, Sailor Saturn, had a few powerful attacks and a defensive ability.

Setsuna, Sailor Pluto, had some time-based abilities.

The scenes of devastation on Glacia were making more than one of them nervous.

Finally a still picture revealed what looked like: 

 

xenomorphs (Alien) 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Seeing A Foe    
by Kender

On the screen before them had been a sight that spoke volumes about what had happened. In what Sailor Galcia had told them should have been a fairly large town was nothing but empty streets filled with devastated properties. Windows were smashed in, walls were rubble and vehicles were propped up in what looked to be thrown together barricades. Obscuring all of this was steam coming from openings in the street which was mixing with naturally cold air to create a mist that hung over everything.

And stepping out of the mist was something that seemed to have stepped out of a child's worst nightmares.

It was at the very least two meters tall, and a jet black color that was almost refused light. There was powered evident in its hard shelled form. The elongated head moved from side to side as if it were looking for something, and a second mouth came out from the first one.

Standing before it was obviously a local life form and from the look of it, possibly someone's pet. The creature was obviously frightened, but it tried to stand bravely against what it knew to be a lethal being. It also had apparently no wish to be killed and when the strike came, the creature bounced away and make for the quickest path to safety.

Where three more of the monsters were waiting for it. They took the poor animal and did things that made those watching it wince. Then the four of them faded back into the mists with their prey.

_____

Back on the ship, there was nary a sound heard. All eyes had been glued to the screen, but when it came to what they had seen, not a few of them were looking for other places to gaze.

Ranma licked dry lips and breathed heavily. "Anybody got any idea what's going on?"

Everyone turned to each other in wordless consultation while: 

someone spoke up. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Ted speaks   
by Kestral

"Analysis: Yes, actually. Those are bioweapons. Doomsday weapons in fact."

Everyone turned to the mechanical as he watched several screens that had little in the way of useful information as far as anyone else was concerned.

Ranma, however, having seen a dog-critter try and stand up against insurmountable odds and get tortured, felt a pang of remorse and sympathy. "I wish," he mumbled, "that poor dog-thingie had had a chance."

flash

The itty bitty little dog-critter hacked and spat up the horrible thing that been forced down its throat.

The three xenomorphs carrying it suddenly noted something different about it.

There had to be substantial modifications to a creature about twice the size of a cat, that had features of both a cat and a dog, that was actually a Glacian pet called a dorok, if it was to be able to take on four "Aliens" xenomorphs at the same time and have a chance. As it was currently facing three of the xenomorphs, the odds were actually in his favor.

In order to stand a chance against a xenomorph, the dorok had to be faster than the xenomorphs, immune to their acidic blood, and possessing other abilities that would even the odds.

It seemed to fade out of existence as far as the xenomorph senses were confused.

This was all very odd as far as the xenomorphs were concerned. Not truly sentient but clever in the manner of a predatory beast, they began hunting their prey anew.

One of them came apart in spattered bits as a thirty-five pound white hot ball of pseudo-canine fury shattered its outer casing and burrowed inside before shattering it.

As the steaming remains slumped, the other two attacked, only to find the "blip" on their senses fading and heading off into the Glacia hills.

"Bioweapons? Who'd be stupid enough to use a doomsday bioweapon?" General Grimm sounded like an angry landslide.

"Extrapolation: some species which is no longer found among the living." Ted gestured with a telescoping short arm at a display. "Statement: data quite clear. Species is insanely predacious and will quickly overwhelm any biosphere it is placed within. Species also possesses several features which have no place in a naturally evolving bio-species. Conclusion: Species is clearly artificial in origin. Observation: homes and buildings show signs of concerted attacks, weak points found and exploited. Observation: ambush occurred showing signs of planning. Conclusion: species is not tool user but at least semi-sentient."

One of the spy-bots continued to follow the lone xenomorph until it got to a factory. At which point the screen received a very good view of a second xenomorph leaping from a wall to eradicate the bot.

"So what do we do?" asked Ranma, reasonably.

Grimm took this as a request for advice. "Let's try " 

 

finding out what that odd power spike was from on the ship. It could be some sort of explosive." 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Spaced invaders.    
by Greyman

A panel on the side of the Yamato opened to release a ball propelled by micro jets.  Looking like an eyeball trailed by four antennae, the probe skimmed alongside the hull until it reached its destination, then transmitted its observation to the con.

"That power surge was due to electronic malfunction, Sirs," reported a bridge bunny in control of the drone, who Ranma noticed seemed to be an actual bunny-girl.  "We have a hull breach.  It appears to be a micro-meteor impact.  I'm placing a remote drone's camera on main visual, now."

The image of the mar to the Yamato's new paint job flashed onto the screen.  Ted studied it for a moment before sounding as alarmed as he could.  "Negative!  Warning: breach profile inconsistent with either kinetic impact or internal explosion.  Analysis: acidic etching present.  Alert: possible penetration by bioweapon.  Probability: 99.5% certainty."

"You mean one of those things is up here?" Ranma demanded.  "How?"

"We detected no missile launch, Sirs," asserted the bridge bunny.

"Hypothesis: bioweapon contained in organic pod.  Explanation: projectile launched by chemical propellant therefore energy signature not detected by missile detection systems.  Theory: bioweapon must be considered capable of biological space travel."

The bunny returned to her panel and switched to another window; blips streaked down the screen only to be destroyed by blips launched from a representation of the Yamato.  "Sirs, automatic meteor repulsion systems are successfully engaging a shower of micro meteors.  No other breaches reported, but if the technos is correct, I recommend we get the heck out of here!"

"Agreed," General Grim resounded.  "Engage main drive!  My apologies for overriding your command, My Emperor, but we can take no chances with your safety."

"Huh?  Right, no problem."

"Yes, problem," Hotaru piped up.  "If we've got one of those things on board we've got a big problem."

"Correct," General Grim replied.  "I'm afraid that this vessel must be quarantined and destroyed."

"What!?" Ranma cried.  "No way!  We just built it.  I say we hunt that thing down."

Grim frowned, but arguing with a Mongolian Emperor was just not done.  "By your command," he saluted, and indicated the com.  "Please dispatch combat droids to seek and destroy.  I will send my best marines."

Hotaru reached for her new communicator bracelet.  "Senshi alert!  Ranma-sempai needs us now!"

Ranma grumbled as he gave orders to the robot forces.  Having others do the monster hunting for him was part of the whole emperor job that sucked.  But maybe, he thought, he could lead a troop on his own.  A glance at Hotaru reminded him that he would have a problem with defenceless girls tagging along.

Meanwhile, Haruka and Michiru dealt with a little problem of their own called Sailor Venus. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Getting with the process   
by Kestral

The units had been loaded and Michiru was doing Haruka's nails while the two watched the monitors.

NAME: Kumori Mizuno, MD  
ARCHETYPE: glamorous doctor  
PROGRAMMING: 97%  
SPECIALTY: Physician - pediatrics  
SENSHI ELEMENT: Biorhythmic Manipulation  
SKILL PACKAGES INSTALLED: Advanced Domestic, Advanced Sexual, Obstetrics/Gynecology, Mongolian Technology Operation  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Seraglio Physician

NAME: Ami Mizuno  
ARCHETYPE: shy nerdette  
PROGRAMMING: 89%  
SPECIALTY: Analysis; Senshi abilities; rote memorization  
SENSHI ELEMENT: water/ice  
SKILL PACKAGES INSTALLED: Dance, Basic Domestic, Basic Physician  
SUGGESTED POSITION: personal bodyguard/physician to Emperor

NAME: Makoto Kino  
ARCHETYPE: gung ho tomboy  
PROGRAMMING: 88%  
SPECIALTY: Cooking; Martial arts; Senshi abilities  
SENSHI ELEMENT: Lightning/wood  
SKILL PACKAGES INSTALLED: Dance; Advanced martial arts; Advanced Domestic; Mongolian Technology Operation  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Bodyguard/cook

NAME: Rei Hino  
ARCHETYPE: spiritualist/passion driven  
PROGRAMMING: 87%  
SPECIALTY: intuition; Senshi abilities  
SENSHI ELEMENT: fire  
SKILL PACKAGES INSTALLED: Dance, Basic Domestic  
SUGGESTED POSITION: personal bodyguard

NAME: Usagi Tsukino  
ARCHETYPE: good natured ditz  
PROGRAMMING: 86%  
SPECIALTY: Senshi Abilities; Cheerleader  
SENSHI ELEMENT: Purification  
SKILL PACKAGES INSTALLED: Dance, Basic Sexual Techniques, Basic Domestic, Advanced Domestic  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Maid/bodyguard

"You just want to see them wearing those maid uniforms," accused Michiru.

"Darn straight," agreed Haruka.

NAME: Minako Aino  
ARCHETYPE: good natured ditz  
PROGRAMMING: 85%  
SPECIALTY: Senshi Abilities; Volleyball  
SENSHI ELEMENT: light/metal/love  
SKILL PACKAGES INSTALLED: Basic Domestic, Dance, Advanced Martial Arts, Rifle Use  
SUGGESTED POSITION: Bodyguard/dancer

"Too bad we can't speed it up," griped Haruka. "I commissioned some costumes for them."

"It's nice to let Setsuna-san design clothing, it's something she's wanted to do for a long time," agreed Michiru.

Meanwhile: 

the hunt for the facehugger continues. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Force Movements   
by Kender

"I really don't like this," muttered Patsy as she followed her leader down her squad leader down the ship's corridor.

Luphi snorted quietly. "What's not to like? We're hunting down an creature which we don't know what it looks like, acts like or even what its strengths and weaknesses are."

"Be that as it may," admonished Elutsa, the squad leader, "we have orders coming down from the Emperor himself.

The team communications officer, Rumi blushed. "I don't mind taking orders from him."

"Keep your mind on the job at hand," the second-in-command, Ravvi, told her.

"Besides," offered the team's tech wizard, Ponia, "We have the Emperor's robots helping us.

"I'd prefer Alpon's squad to those 'bots," groused Luphi.

"They're around here too," said Ravvi.

"Oh just great..."

There were a few giggles amongst the squad members as they went back to having their full attention on the job at hand, while: 

the hunt for the facehugger continued. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Attack of the facehugger.   
by Greyman

Face hugger bug scuttling around the vents.  Heavily armed storm trooper marines wandering around without a clue.  You know how it goes.

"Ekk!" Patsi cried as the critter jumped out at her.  KER-SLAM! resounded the bug as her rock hard hand slammed it into a bulk head.  "This ship has got space herpes!"

OMMMMINOUS HUMMMM! Elutsa's blaster began to hum ominously and lit the critter with a glow of doom from the barrel.  "Damn it, Patsi, you let it scuttle away!"

"I am not letting you shoot my hand off again!  Do you have any idea how much that stings?"

"You're such a cub, Patsy!" Luphi growled.  "Now, where did the little sucker get to?"

"Argh!  Get it away from me!" Ponia yelped as her hooves started pounding the floor around the confused bug.  Leaping high the zebra girl landed on the shoulders of a robot and ordered, "Robots.  Exterminate!  Exterminate!"

"By your command!" the large silver droids saluted.  Glowing scanners swung back and forth in their face plate as weapon barrels lifted.

"Tornado watch!" Ravvi cried as the robots began blasting away indiscriminately.  "Duck and cover!"

"Crush!  Kill!  Destroy!  There will be no survivors!  Yeah!"

"Ponia, cut that out and shut those blamed things off!" Luphi roared as blaster bolts slammed passed her butt and singed her tail.

"Awww!" Ponia cried as she slid down to the floor and hugged the shiny metal figure of her mount.  "Ceasefire, robots!  I luv these guys.  I'm going to call this one Trigger.."

The critter skittered through a partly open doorway.  Unable to find a nice, surprised face to lay its eggs, it did what it did best.

"Oh no!" Rumi gasped.  "It's escaping into the men's showers!"

"Quick, after it, ladies," Elutsa ordered as she strode boldly where no woman was meant to go.  "Damn it!"

"It must have disappeared down a drain," Ravvi observed as her blaster sights swept the empty stalls, devoid of life, humanoid or alien.

"Uh... yeah, that too," Elutsa agreed.  "Forgot they evacuated these decks  Erm, I mean, okay, Rummi, call up the big brass.  We've sighted the enemy and it's an ugly little squid."

"I think I chipped a nail," Patsi complained as she examined her hand.  "Eww, acid burns."

Okay, maybe that was not how it was supposed to go.

Round two: return of the facehugger.  Persistant little sucker, aint it?  Or maybe just a glutton for punishment? 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Facehugger blues   
by Kestral

There was a significant problem with being a facehugger.

Well, other than being ugly as sin and effectively the communicable stage of a parasitic organism.

That was another problem with the species as a whole actually. It required a "host" to grow a new xenomorph. They also had a strong tendency to overrun all potential host species in short order so that they ended up with no hosts for the next generation.

The facehugger prepared to leap and then settled down in a puzzled manner.

The walrus-man pushed his broom as he went past the space herpes.

As he didn't have a proper face, having a mouth that was concealed under layers of tissue that locked against hostile environments, grabbing the janitor and sticking a tube down his throat just wasn't going to happen.

The facehugger scuttled on, undeterred.

"I don't like these uniforms," said one Mongolian soldier. "What's a 'stormtrooper' anyway?"

"I like 'em," said the other soldier. "Armor is a good thing. You remember how that one Emperor (may his name never be spoken in public) wanted us to wear fig leaves."

"Don't remind me," grumbled the first soldier.

Leap! Splat! grind grind grind!

"EWWWWWW, I think last night's mystery meal is trying to get you to eat it," said the second soldier on seeing the critter trying to force its way through a layer of polyceramic.

"I've had meals coming back to haunt me," admitted the first soldier, "but usually it's with Ming's Revenge. Can you put your blaster on low and shoot the damn thing off?"

Zap!

"There it goes!"

"Man, that stuff's uglier the second time around," said the first soldier as the smouldering face hugger ran off.

The facehugger scuttled away, the polyceramic armor (the idea had been that if they were going to wear armored spacesuits they damn well we're going to be functional armor) being a bit too tough for it to penetrate and now it had bruised its proboscis trying to get through.

The sound of running water attracted it. Water = prey!

It crept into the C-deck men's shower. Slowly it approached the weird alien creature before it. Quickly it pounced, having determined that there was a suitable mouth opening there!

"YAGGHHHH! I'm being butt raped by some space herpes!"

The facehugger was puzzled. The prey had just unfolded (from where he'd been trying to pick up the soap) and was not getting sedated.

Several heavily armed women came into the room. "AHAH! There it is, it's got Private Singe by the, uhm, privates. Lughi! The neutralizer!"

"Yes'm!" Lughi stepped over and began pouring white powder all over Singe and the creature.

"Urk!" The facehugger declared as some of the powder got on the open cut.

"Take Singe in hand, and-"

GRAB! "Yes maam!"

"I meant take him to the Infirmary, Lughi!"

"Sorry maam."

"Uhm, what's this stuff?" Singe asked, hoping the white powder wasn't some bioweapon.

"Sodium bicarbonate, baking soda," indicated the Sergeant. "If the creature is highly acidic, applying a base substance would be highly poisonous. Oh, and put the space herpes in a cage. They can dissect it later. We don't want it coming back to life."

"I hate it when that happens," agreed one of the other soldiers.

Meanwhile: 

the preparation of various girls for the Emperor. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Ryoga's bogus journey    
by Kestral

General Mille and Nodoka dragged their sweat-drenched and exhausted bodies over to the shower and compared notes.

"I favor the tall one with the firm breasts," said Mille after a moment. "No doubt she would provide very healthy and strong babies."

Nodoka scrubbed off, still not sure about the duties of an Imperial Mother, but finding it had its benefits. "The short one wants to be a doctor. I think that would make for an ideal First Wife among this group."

"Perhaps," admitted Mille. "That knowledge of anatomy and those delicate fingers do have a certain appeal."

"The one with the odangos seems nice too, very enthusiastic," added Nodoka, feeling her ribs. "Perhaps a bit too enthusiastic at times."

"There was a problem with the programming sequence," admitted Mille. "Apparently her libido and erotic sensitivity were set a few notches too high. I'll have maintenance check it out."

The two glanced over at the blonde who was draped over the sofa, drooling slightly, but seeming quite pleased with how everything had turned out.

"What of the fire wielder?" Nodoka asked in concern.

"A temporary effect of her enhancements," guessed Mille. "No doubt she'll calm down somewhat as time goes on, and we do keep fire extinguishers on hand for just such an emergency."

"It was all we could do to keep that one from hunting down Ranma and dragging him off to her bed," said Nodoka approvingly.

"Yes, pity about her tripping and hitting her head in the pudding bath," said Mille. "Oh that reminds me, next time I should order banana or chocolate. I'll have to punish whoever suggested tapioca."

"Even if it was yourself?" slyly asked Nodoka.

"Even more so if it was me," admitted Mille. "In any case, we should check on how things are going with the Emperor. He may have discovered what is wrong on Glacia."

It had been a sort of catlike dog or doglike cat. An alien pet about twice the size of a terrestrial housecat.

Ranma had almost idly focussed the Great Will upon it and wished that it stood a chance against the attack of four of the monsters. The Great Will had been given a blank check.

The critter, whose name translated as Fluffy, continued to change. Body tissues that were sufficiently dense that they could stand up to claws and jaws of the larger aliens. A protein coating that shed molecular acid and rendered it inert. Extremely high speed, and able to mask its presence to the IR and echolocation abilities of the xenomorph. He continued to change after escaping the group.

When he finally finished altering, the pet that had started out was something that didn't resemble the finished product that much. Fluffy was still a predator and potential pet, but now he was a xenomorph-ivore. He now had an even chance if confronted with a pack of four of the xenomorphs, and was quite capable of picking off stragglers or scouts on his own.

Fluffy was also fairly intelligent, as the xenomorphs could practice pack tactics and were more than accomplished in sneaking and ambushing themselves - in order to survive and thrive, Fluffy had to be better at such things.

As Fluffy found a scout and ripped it apart, he reflected that it tasted rather like chicken.

If the xenomorphs had evolved on a world of their own, there would have been creatures that were normally prey to them and there would have been creatures who preyed on them.

They had not. Therefore the xenomorphs had no idea what to do about a xenomorph-predator.

Ranma listened to the explanation of what they'd found with these things and, as it was being put into simple terms, understood.

"The enemy is a xenomorph. We have seen two examples of the breed since their initial appearance. The tall serpentine rubbery looking ones with the claws and extra jaws is some form of Adult stage. The little spider-thing was it's immature state." Grim had said, pointing to pictures of both. He clicked on another picture. "This was removed from Private Singe's posterior. It is a parasitic organism, something like a burrowing worm, which absorbs nutrients and life from the host. We think it probably devours the victim from inside and then burrows out to become the adult stage we saw attacking the native pet."

Pictures of the creatures attacking the pet were shown. "These are fast, clever, and vicious. The tail has a blade for slashing and is prehensile - it can hang from tree branches or strangle prey with it, it has long claws, a moderate outer armor shell, and the outer and inner jaw mechanisms. We don't know approximate bite strength, so we're basing estimates on insect models. None of these would be a particular problem for a group of Mongolian Marines, except that they seem ideally suited for stealth operations and picking off loners. There is also their blood to consider, a molecular acid - very potent and highly poisonous. Slash one with a sword or smash it with your fists, and you're liable to find yourself dissolving from impact splashes."

General Grimm gestured and Princess Graphite held up a weapon similar to a rifle. "As their bodies contain a strong acid, we've brought these out of storage. You might remember them from our campaign against the Flame Lords Of Efreet?"

"Ah, yes," said Captain Krunch of Supply. "The anti-flame guns."

"Exactly," said Grimm. "These fire off shells that explode with a sodium tricarbonate mix, a very powerful flame retardant and base. Shoot an acid spill with these and it will neutralize it."

Ranma frowned. Guns. He didn't care for guns at all. Still, punching something that was going to eat away your hand didn't sound too good either. Maybe if he had a weapon that could deal with 'em.

The tattoo that ended on his palm glittered slightly.

Space is big. Really big. With all apologies to Douglas Adams.

"Where the hell am I NOW?!"

In space, no one can hear you scream.

"RANMA! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Even when you're right.

"Maybe this lever?" Snap!

Which is why this spaceship (using a Mongolian drive system - hence the flames and smoke from the exhaust) continued to careen on.

"ArrgghhhhHHhhH!"

Out of the solar system.

"Damnit! Maybe this blue button?"

Out of the spiral arm.

"Big band music? Why does a spaceship play big band music?! ARRGGHHH. Ranma! You'll pay for making me listen to Glenn Miller for 30,000 parsecs!"

Out of the Milky Way galaxy.

"Maybe the red button?" Poom!

Out of the galactic cluster.

"That didn't sound good at all."

[WARNING! Weapons Are Armed And Targeting Mechanism Has Not Been Engaged!]

"Weapons? What kind of weapons? Dang it! Why couldn't this be written in Japanese?! I'm not that good at English!"

[Targeting Planet With Destructo Ray!]

"NO! Maybe the Blue Button?"

[Targeting Planet With Tommy Dorsey Music.]

"Well, that's a little better, I guess."

[We Are Being Hailed. Answer?]

"Wait a minute. Maybe this switch?"

Never mind Hibiki, what about the Nerima Wrecking Crew? 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Back On The Homefront   
by Kender

"Now the houses will never be joined!" sobbed Soun as he sat on the porch of the Tendo home.

"Don't worry," said Genma.

"We came back to find Ranma gone and that is all you can say?!"

"Come down. I have the perfect plan for getting my ungrateful son back."

The tears dried up and were replaced by eagerness. "You do?"

"Of course I do!"

"What is it?"

"It is simple. We simply find a ship and grab a ride so that we can get to where he is. And when we find him, we'll have Akane save him this time, and he'll jump at the chance to marry her!"

"I am not marrying that jerk!" barked Akane, who'd been worriedly imagining presses with electrified spikes only moments earlier.

"Come on Akane," Soun said to her soothingly.

Nabiki looked up from the book where she'd been checking her accounts for the souvenirs. "So you're going to go against an entire alien army with possible death squads?"

*SPLASH!* [Who, me?] read Genma-panda's sign.

"I thought so."

_____

At first Mousse had been ecstatic that his only obstacle to the heart of his fair Shampoo was now gone, but then the disappearances had started. Attractive young ladies had vanished without a trace and only a few had been seen again. Which made him very panicked for the one he so cared for.

"Come Shampoo! We must get you someplace safe!" he told her.

"Shampoo is Amazon. No run away from danger."

"But they will come for you!"

"How stupid Mousse see that?"

"No one could ever doubt that your beauty would be a target for those villains!"

"You is spending too much time with Stick-boy."

"Uhh..."

"How bad guy supposed to find Shampoo when Shampoo looking for very important artifact?"

"Forget Saotome and come where I can protect yoooo..." *WHAM! CRASH! THUD!*

"Shampoo can take care of self. Thank very much."

_____

"Come brother! This time, my rocket shall finally succeed in allowing me to return to my Ranma-darling's arms!" declared Kodachi.

"Why do you persist in wishing to join with that coward, demented sister? For surely he has fled so that he may hide from the righteous strength of my blade!"

"Really brother. I should think that you would realize that this is to be a rescue mission of the utmost importance."

"Certainly I do! As I have seen his disappearance, I went to finally receive my lovely Akane's love now that the foul sorcerer that was keeping her from was gone. Yet, his magicks still linger as she protested what was surely the reason for the beating of her heart. In addition, I have not seen the wondrous pigtailed girl anywhere in evidence."

"Who would care for that harlot when my dear Ranma is in danger!"

"That frail flower of womanhood is likely with that cretin Saotome and being subjected to the most heinous of alien tortures!"

"We both wish to get to Ranma before those alien creatures do him some harm?"

"Of course. It would not do to have some alien being attempt to harm one who it is the mighty Tatewakei Kuno's task to punish!"

"Then we must create the rocket that will allow us to go to where he is being held!"

_____

*"We are sorry, but this number is no longer in service,"* went the recorded message coming out of the speaker, *"And no Miss Kuonji, NASA can not help you at this time."*

Ukyo stared at the phone handset that she was holding while: 

 

the villain who had sent the xenomorphs was plotting. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: the required villain plotting in shadows scene   
by Kestral

SCENE: Darkened basement. The place looks like a weird combination of high school science lab, B-movie evil-sorcerer's workshop, and a mad scientist laboratory from another B-movie.

"Bwahahahahahahahaha -hurk," said the mad scientist, drawing himself up to his full height of 4'9" as soon as he recovered from choking at the end of his evil laugh.

"They thought I was crazy for grabbing that stuff, they did, hee hee, after that crazy girl 'Mimette' digitized herself and died. Hee hee hee. Now who laughs last, eh? Mugen High gone. Go boom! Hee hee hee. But now I have done IT! Bwahahaha! Reversed action I have! Her mistake it was! Put herself in digital realm, when I can take digital and make it... REAL! Bwahahahahahahaha hurk!"

The mad scientist, briefly revealed as being maybe fourteen, scuttled from shadow to shadow over to his video collection.

"Aliens out there. Mine yes. Xenomorphs. Heh heh. Okay, maybe not my best idea. What to fight them with yes. Created my own spaceship out of Warp Shuttle from that Star Trek movie. Now what? Heh heh. Yesss. That will do!"

 

Daleks begin rolling out into Glacia's environment. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Escalation of the Extermination Agenda.   
by Greyman

The test had been simple.  He'd selected a frozen wasteland populated by what he saw a species of yeti then dropped a meteor containing retro digitised xenomorph pods onto the glacial moon.  Protected from the entry by a hull of chitinous ceramic, the pods had hatched and released thousands of scuttlebugs.  Most of these had promptly froze to death - though adapted to survive in the radiative cold of space, they were still vulnerable to the convective cold of the glacial moon.

However, just one had survived long enough to implant a larval worm into a curious native but that was all it took.  The native's stomach had provided the perfect incubation site for the next stage of the xenomorph's parasitic life cycle.  The unwitting host had also provided acquired traits to enabled the developing queen to survive in Glacia's harsh environment.

The host had also unknowingly taken it's passenger to a nesting site with plenty of food and incubators for the next generation.  The population had simply exploded from there.

There is a fable about a king who attempted to rid his castle of mice by bringing in cats, than dogs to chase out the cats, lions to move the dogs, elephants to chase out the lions and finally mice to scare away the elephants.  This amusing tale was meant to illustrate that the solution can sometimes be worse than the problem and that escalation never solved anything.  Obviously a certain someone hadn't paid attention to such things as a child.

Yo eliminate the perfect biological weapon, the junior mad scientist chose to send in the perfect cybernetic weapon.

Though the DARLEK's bodies had atrophied to near uselessness, they were encased in a life support system that doubled as a killing machine.  They were basically brains in tanks.

They had one thing in common with the xenomorphs; both were implacably hostile to life forms not of their own kind.  The DARLEKs response to encountering a xenomorph was predictably.  With a battle cry of "Exterminate!  Exterminate!" they began doing so with the energy weapon mounted in their armored shell.  The xenomorphs responded by soundlessly ripping apart those shells to get at the tasty meat inside whenever their stealth and speed could get passed the DARLEKs advantage of range and firepower.

This battle of Mutual Assured Destruction did not go unnoticed.  While the Yamato had withdrawn from close orbit to avoid further contamination, drone satellites continued their tireless surveillance and dutifully reported the detection of faint energy signatures from beneath the icy surface.

 

Elsewhere, some other development had developed. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: the wonderful Emperor of Mongo   
by Kestral

"There appears to be a big battle going on," mused General Grimm. "Two entirely separate species which are battling on Glacia for control of the sphere."

"I see," said Ranma. He didn't watch a lot of British TV or go to the movies a lot, and so didn't recognize either. "Suggestions?"

"Rather than make this a three way battle, we should observe and see if we can find any holdouts from the original Glacia inhabitants," suggested General Grimm. "If we need to make a stand, it is best to do so for an overriding purpose."

"I see," repeated Ranma, yawning. Hey, you try to keep up with a buncha princesses!

General Grimm noted the Emperor's gesture. "I'll see to it then. Shall we launch fighters to make sure nothing attempts to flee the battle?"

"That sounds good," agreed Ranma. "Don't want those 'space herpes' things around. Y'all can shoot 'em down."

General Grimm gave the appropriate orders.

Dramatic music began to play from the loudspeakers.

There were many groups that would normally pay lipservice to the Emperor. There were several groups, who had survived the past three Emperors, who would do everything they possibly could to keep their current one.

The Mongolian Army was used to being cannon fodder. It wasn't that many generations ago that they were armed cavalry and infantrymen armed with pikes. Now they were wearing funky white armored spacesuits based on Ranma's design (which was Stormtrooper armor from Star Wars) and carrying laser carbines that could fire bursts! That he had come up with armor as his first design stated his concern for their forces! (Actually he'd been told it was tradition for the Emperor to design motifs of armor and the like. They had meant uniforms. Ranma had suggested the Stormtrooper armor because that had been all he could think of. Though eventually he did come up with these nice red shirts and black pants for lower ranked members.) As he was the first Emperor to properly appreciate them, they'd follow him to Glacia if he commanded it. (Though they'd much rather go invade Tropica.)

The Mongolian Space Force was used to the old cylinders of Ming's day. As they dropped into space from the deck of the Yamato, more than one was glad of the sleek shapes and lots of missiles that they had now. 

The Mongolian Rangers and Special Forces were glad of the Emperor. Anyone who could put up with, much less satisfy, that many princesses was clearly a man among men!

Even the Mongolian Death Squads (who were actually fairly old men and women since no new ones had been hired since Ming's days and had gone from being the "feared scourges of space" to mainly sitting around and playing shuffleboard) were glad of the new Emperor. Land's sakes, they hadn't had gossip this good in ages!

The sentient robots of Teknos also valued the new Emperor. Their factories were going at 100% and they were getting all sorts of new respect and accolades within the Empire.

The farmers weren't quite sure how, as they had no idea about the Great Will, but they were also solidly behind the Emperor due to the sudden flourishing of their farms. All it had taken was the Emperor touring their largely barren farms and by the next day it was practically a jungle. The soil had become so enriched that plants were growing almost visibly. (Farmer Jonnz was in fact insisting that his plants were growing while he watched. It should be noted however that Farmer Jonnz made a form of corn liquor that most people used to clean rust off of metal but that he had been known to drink for "medicinal purposes".)

As Ranma, largely without suspecting, brought a new pride (who couldn't avoid a certain degree of pride on watching a column of Destroids loading into a lander and realizing that you were on the same side?) and prosperity to Mongo, the effect spread.

So on hearing the "launch" music playing, the Black Tiger squadron set out and started shooting alien pods that had been left behind in Glacia orbit.

The Emperor had ordered them to protect the Empire! Shoot down any enemy of the Empire you see!

"Red Five, why are you shooting at an asteroid?"

"It has a mean look to it, sir!"

"Red Twelve, what are you shooting at? There's nothing out there!"

"Warning shots, sir!"

"Wee hee hee hee! I got a BEM!"

"That was a rock, Red Five."

In some ways it was really a darn pity that they weren't more competent, though enthusiasm and high powered lasers *did* take care of the immediate problem.

Shinobu held her hand up, pinky extended. "Serious? Don't do it if you don't mean it!"

Hotaru linked her pinky with that of Shinobu Maehara. "Friends!"

"So what you want to do?" Shinobu asked her new friend.

"..."

"Besides play with Ranma-sempai."

Hotaru blushed. "Uhm."

"Cards?" Shinobu held up a deck.

"As long as it isn't Old Maid," said Hotaru.

Meanwhile:

 

Akane was looking over the rocketship in their backyard. "Where did this come from?"  
"Oh," Nabiki answered. "Kodachi paid me to get her a spaceship. So I went on Ebay..." 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: One used spaceship....Cheap?!?   
by Bryan

Akane was looking over the rocketship in their backyard. "Where did this come from?" 

"Oh," Nabiki answered. "Kodachi paid me to get her a spaceship. So I went on Ebay..." 

 

And bought it from..." (More Spaceship Choices) 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: (More Spaceship Choices) [Episode 38081]  
by Greyman

Akane was looking over the rocketship in their backyard. "Where did this come from?"

"Oh," Nabiki answered. "Kodachi paid me to get her a spaceship.  So I went on Ebay and bought it from ..."

some old woman who found it in her garage after her old tenants moved out. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: My Favourite Scam   
by Greyman

Akane was looking over the rocketship in their backyard. "Where did this come from?"

"Oh," Nabiki answered, "Kodachi paid me to get her a spaceship.  So I went on Ebay from some old woman in America who found it in her garage after some of old tenants moved out.  Heh; it's bound to have great millage as Mrs. Brown said the O'Hara's never used it."

"Does it work?" Akane asked.

"Feh, I doubt it," Nabiki snorted.  "Not for the price I paid.  It's probably some old movie prop or something.  Looks real enough though, doesn't it."

"It's small though," Akane remarked as she walked around the "space ship".  It was little more than a metallic casket with room for one person.  It did, however, have lots of fancy controls and things on the inside and realistic looking rocket exhausts on the rear.

"That's the beauty of it," Nabiki remarked.  "There's only room for one person, so guess what happens when Kodachi, Ukyo and Shampoo find out about it at the same time?"

Akane frowned.  "Well, I guess they'll fight over it and during the battle..."

"Exactly," Nabiki agreed.  "Of course I can't be held responsible for damages, now can I?  However, I need you to make sure..."

"Leave me out of this," Akane snorted and turned around.

"But Akane..." Nabiki protested just as...

Soun and Genma came out, thanked Nabiki and shoved Akane into the ship. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Akane's Unexpected Trip [Episode 38096]  
by Kestral  
Akane looked inside. "Hey, what's this writing?"

Soun and Genma appeared from hiding. shove, stuff, latch

"HEY!" Akane was understandably peeved at being shoved and locked into a metal casket.

"Thanks Nabiki," said Soun, handing over some funds to the waiting girl.

"Go get that ungrateful son of mine!" Genma proclaimed and slammed his hand down on the outer hull.

FwoooooooooooooooooooooSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

"Oops," said Genma who hadn't actually intended to launch the silly thing.

"You should have let me set the controls," said Nabiki drily as her sister and ship were rocketed off into space. "Oh well. At least I got paid!"

"You have another one?" asked Kodachi as she bounced off the wall and landed in the backyard.

"Depends on your funds," said Nabiki.

Kodachi held up a wad of yen notes she'd stolen from her brother.

Snatch! "I have just the thing, gotten from some family that had an Alien Life Form they called ALF," said Nabiki as she counted bills. "Amazing what you can find on ebay nowadays."

Doctor Zakharov continued to move at the best speed he could. He was almost past the front door now!

Of course, with his oxygen bottle, using his walker, and trying to sneak - that was about 400 yards he'd covered. And he'd had to take two naps to get this far.

The rescue of Earth was going to take a little time.

It had been a dorok. A cat/dog sort of pet about twice the size of a terrestrial housecat.

Due to Ranma seeing it get taken out by four xenomorphs, he had wished that it had stood a chance. The Great Will had clicked on.

Now Fluffy was about the size of a German Shepherd, had thick plates decorated by sharp spines it could shoot off, claws, jaws, and a tail that ended in a blade. It was immune to their acid, able to mask its presence to their senses, and faster than was typical of the xenomorphs it now hunted.

It noticed these new invaders and was sufficiently intelligent to go to ground. The tailed things stuck to low lying areas except at night, and even then tended to avoid higher elevations unless their attention was called to something. The noisy metal boxes were even easier to avoid.

Fluffy decided to sit tight while it observed. It remembered being a pet, beloved by its family and loving them in return. Nasty hissing black things killed family. Fluffy hadn't stood a chance and so had fled. Now Fluffy knew that it indeed had a chance. Fluffy was hurting nasty hissing black things in return now.

After noisy tin cans were done. Let them finish first.

For now Fluffy would rest, lick wounds, and dream of when Fluffy had family.

In space no one can hear you scream.

"AAGHHHHHH! RANMA! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Unless you've put your radio on General Broadcast and smashed the mike into the "on" position as you wildly careen through the cosmos.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I, ANYWAY?!!"

As you race through a planetary atmosphere triggering all sorts of planetary alerts and violating the airspace of a paranoid group of aliens.

"AGHHHH! NOT ANOTHER WEIRD UGLY ALIEN CITY!"

Now that they had been insulted as well as trespassed against, fighters began being launched.

"RANMA! BECAUSE OF YOU I HAVE SEEN HELL!"

Now even more insulted, more ships were launched.

Several of the alien ships noticed the fleet chasing the odd ship and immediately queried for positional instructions.

They'd just follow this alien back to his homeworld and then they'd do something suitably nasty.

Daleks blasted away at Alien xenomorphs. Alien xenomorphs ripped apart metal shells to get at the tasty Dalek meat.

Unfortunately for the Daleks, they were best adapted to city environments without a lot of stairs. Their superior firepower and range was not as much use in street fights when the xenomorphs could pop up out of nearly anywhere.

That was not to say the Daleks were pushovers by any definition. It did mean that they were losing.

The fourteen year old mad scientist noticed this and compounded his earlier two mistakes by adding a third component to the battle.

Unfortunately the retro digitized creatures he'd chosen for this were not the hive animals of the xenomorphs, nor the relatively simple Daleks.

No, these were:

 

Terminators. He digitized the mechanicals from the second movie. Ted is fascinated by the designs. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Advance Of The Machines   
by Kender

Out on the icy slopes, a sort of battle was being waged. The Daleks were out and blasting at any of the Xenomorphs that they could find. In response, the xenomorphs were tearing open the tin cans that held such tasty little snacks when they could sneak up on them. Neither was about to call for a cease fire, and that was going to mean that the winner was going to be decided by the simple factor of who had any member still alive when the other side was wiped out.

Then the Terminators arrived.

Being robotic life forms, they were easily produced if one had the proper facilities, and mass quantities could be created very quickly. They needed no rest, and no sustenance. Survival was not something they particularly cared about, if only for themselves. Properly programmed, they could be very loyal to whomever they were directed to.

Unfortunately, the machines bought out by the junior high mad scientist had been taken directly from the movies that had been produced. This meant that the programs that drove them were the same ones that they would have received had Skynet actually created them. 

As a result, they 'cared' for only to things; destruction of opponents and their own dominance. They would not stop until all threats were eliminated. Until then, they would seek out and destroy any and all possible enemies that they could find.

Which included the xenomorphs and Daleks.

Pulse blasts from a hovering craft turned a group of Daleks into burnt out shells. Xenomorphs that went after the two legged 'creatures' that appeared found themselves full of holes. Boths groups suddenly realized that this had become a three war.

And then the battle really got started.

Up on the Yamato, those watching found themselves seeing a scene that was becoming ever more dangerous. It was quite obvious that situation was only going to get worse. And that had been before the newest arrivals had come along. Not one of them could find much good in the problem.

"Observation: Those designs seem to be very functional and adaptable," commented Ted.

Several people turned to stare at him, while: 

Akane was out discovering the Solar System. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Star Trekkin' across the universe... [Episode 39607]  
by Kestral  
Space was big. Really big. Etcetera.

Akane's spaceship shook slightly as she tried to twist around and get her own elbow out of her ear.

"Meow?"

"Out, Shampoo!"

"Meow, fttt!"

"How did you get in here, anyway?"

"Meow meow meow meow MEOW meow meow."

"Gotcha," said Akane. "You saw a spaceship, changed into a cat, snuck on board, and waited for your chance to go rescue Ranma."

"Meow nyu niaow?"

"No, I can't speak Cat, I just figured it was the most likely explanation."

"Niew!"

"Don't suppose you've got any cards."

"Mew mew."

"Pity."

"Mew?"

"Never mind, I just found a peephole. We just passed the moon. You can wait till our next stop before getting out."

Nabiki began counting her profit.

"Ouch!" Kodachi said.

Nabiki blinked and checked. "How on Earth did you manage to get in there?"

"Gymnasts (oooh) must be (uhmf) flexible. I also do yoga."

Nabiki shrugged. She'd gotten paid so it didn't matter that much. "Whatever."

zummmmmmmmm! a pair of doors slowly latched shut.

Nabiki was about to turn away when she noticed Genma tying a rope around the spaceship. "Excuse me. What exactly are you trying to do?"

"It is imperative that Akane be the one to rescue my stupid ungrateful son," said Genma as he finished tying the knot. "Now all I have to do is tie this around the dojo..." (stomp, splash) [Forgot about that fire pail, sorry.]

Nabiki thought a few moments, got a camera, and sat down well away from dojo, Genma, and rocket.

FWOOOOSHHHHHHHH!The spaceship rocketed up into the air.  
Twang! The rope that Genma Saotome was tying around the dojo went taut.  
"BUHAW!" Genma-panda discovered he had been caught by the suddenly tightening rope.  
RIP! CRUNCH!The dojo came off the support pillars as a single unit.  
ShuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuThe spaceship, rope, screaming Genma, and dojo rose majestically up into the air.  
Gleam! Eventually disappearing into the sky as a single glittering point of light before fading away entirely.  
"WAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Soun Tendo began wailing and putting forth torrents of tears as his beloved dojo, including shrine, vanished into the clear afternoon sky.

Nabiki smirked. The purchase of a camera with autofocus and auto-advance features had just been vindicated.

"...and in news today, this picture of an alien spacecraft towing a small outbuilding and a panda was taken by the American Space Shuttle. NASA explains this as an optical illusion caused by sunspot activity and swears that they have not been launching endangered species into orbit. Both PETA and the World Wildlife Organization have protested the unethical treatment of pandas and vowed legal action as soon as they figure out who to sue. And on to sports..."

"Nyet, Ukyo Kuonji, der Russian Space Program is not going to the planet Mongo. Haff you tried NASA?"

Ukyo hung up the phone and turned to the board. She'd run out of leads, so who could she consult?

Maybe if she...

tried ordering something out of this ACME catalog? 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Buying Travel [Episode 40453]  
by Kender

Plopping down a catalog the size of a phone book, Ukyo started flipping through the pages looking for something that would give her something that she wanted. She needed something that would allow her to get from Earth to where ever Ranma was. And she needed it somewhere within her price range. (Especially since even her cooking didn't sell that well.)

"Hmm... attack robots... exploding carrots... rocket skates... Here we go, space ships," she murmured, looking at what was on sale. She blinked at what was being offered there. Apparently they were selling fully functional rockets, ships, and saucers at really low prices, even absurdly low.

Oh well, who was she to look such a gift horse in the mouth. This way, she'd definitely be able to afford something to travel out to the stars. Sure, a small part at the back of her mind wondered just why they were so cheap, but for the most part she wasn't going to question her good fortune.

After all, her Ran-chan's safety was at stake, and nothing was going to stop her from saving him. Picking up her phone, she dialed the number and waited until she got a connection.

*"Hello, this is ACME Catalogue Sales Japan. How may we help you?"* asked the operator.

"Yes, I'd like to place an order," the chef said, while: 

the three way battle on the ice planet was continuing. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Terminate and Exterminate.    
by Greyman

Fluffy snarled angrily at the alien insect-reptiles surrounding her.   They hissed back but circled warily.   The steam of their breath frosted immediately, but even in the bitter cold atmosphere of Glacia the xenomorphs could detect the scent of Fluffy's previous encounters with their kind.   The killers were highly adaptable and voracious predators but they were certainly not stupid.   Faced with a superior life form they hesitated for a moment then turned tail and fled. 

An infuriated Fluffy snarled then gave chase.   Her body immediately began to adapt from a close-combat form to one suited for high-speed pursuit.   The hindmost xenomorph squealed as a pouncing Fluffy leapt on top of it.   Powerful jaws crushed armoured carapace and fangs ripped through the steel hard muscles beneath.   Alkaline saliva immediately neutralised the acidic ichor, leaving only a bitter flavour in Fluffy's mouth. 

Lifting her head high, Fluffy gave a lonesome howl of triumph, then leapt off the rapidly freezing corpsicle to set off in pursuit of the rest of the pack.   One by one she slaughtered her way through them, but there always seemed to be more ahead as the new members joined the pack.   There seemed to be a never ending opportunity for revenge. 

Then, there was something new.   The sneaky lizard things had entered a tunnel, not of ice, but rock.   Fluffy followed without hesitation.   The resulting ambush lead to the death of more killers. 

Panting with exertion but charged with a inexhaustible rage, Fluffy prowled deeper into the tunnels and ever thicker swarms of the reptilian bugs.   Then, suddenly they were gone, vanished into the honeycombed maze.   Fluffy picked out the strongest spore trail and adapted into a tracker. 

Eventually the tunnels opened into an enormous cavern.   Fluffy prowled across the chamber floor, sniffing at the rocks curiously.   The chamber smelled strongly of the unmistakable stench of her enemy, but nary a one popped into sight.   She raised her muzzle to howl in fury, but paused. 

Above her, the Mother Of All Aliens hissed from the high ceiling; an enormous bloated monster far out of reach.   Fluffy howled in rage at the sight of her ultimate enemy.   Then, all around her, the 'rocks' began to crack open. 

Fluffy whirled in confusion at the appearance of a new creature.   Small, but extremely fast, spidery, scorpion-like things sprang out of the eggs lining the cavern floor to leap into Fluffy's swatting paws and snapping teeth. 

The alien queen screamed in outrage as her 'children' swarmed over their intended host only to die en masse before a single one could inject a larvae.   But the losses meant nothing if only one could infest that superior form and acquire it's traits. 

Then another infuriating event occurred. 

Gleaming metallic skeletons stomped into the far side of chamber, emerging from the tunnels.   Pods cracked open at the vibration of their passage, only to burst apart under a barrage of gunfire immediately directed their way.   Emotionless, mechanical voices announced their intentions. 

"All life forms must be terminated.   Exterminate!   Exterminate!" 

The few critters that survived scuttled underfoot in confusion, unable to locate a suitable host.   The T-800's synthetic flesh had long since been shattering by cold or dissolved by acid, leaving their metallic frames mostly functional but completely unappetising to the parasites.   Those bugs that were not blasted apart were crushed under the feet of the advancing terminators. 

Across the chamber, Fluffy's tail wagged at the sight of forms, skeletal and metallic, but recognisable humanoid.   She bounded across the chamber with a gleeful yelp, then howled in confusion as the T-800's immediately peppered her thick pelt with projectile weapons. 

Fluffy rolled over and played dead.   Bugs started to crawl over her, but the terminators turned their gunfire upon bulk of the alien queen as the bitch dropped from the ceiling.   With the mechanical's attention diverted, a confused Fluffy slunk away into the tunnels. 

Bullet shells popped out of rapidly healing flesh as the injured pet made her way through the tunnels.   She lay panting in an alcove and whimpered as an inquisitive alien's head poked around the corner. 

The black armoured head withdrew suddenly, followed by the sounds of combat.   Pieces of alien splattered against the tunnel walls, then their was silence. 

A second alien head peered around the corner, this one of gleaming quicksilver.   Mechanical sensors probed the alcoves shadows, then the liquid metal T-2000, morphed into a shape it found perfectly suited to hunting aliens, moved on.   In the alcove, the air rippled as Fluffy stirred then lay still and near invisible.   Her stealth adaptation had been completed just in time to conceal her while she healed. 

In the pod chamber, the alien queen lay bleeding among the tangled ruin of T-800 frames.   She looked up as familiar shapes emerged from the tunnel, then it was her turn to hiss in confused betrayal as they swarmed over her.   Only at the last moment did she realise that they lacked the acidic scent of her children.   Then it was simply too late. 

The terminators looked up as new intruders glided into the chamber.   The daleks ploughed through the pods like icebreakers and surveyed the ruins.   A gold dalek emerged from the middle of its escort an approached the liquid silver terminators with unconcerned arrogance. 

"Report!" the gold dalek demanded. 

A single silver alien-form advanced from the pack then spoke.   "All resistance has been crushed.   All life forms have been terminated.   All their bases belong to us!" 

"Excellent!" the dalek gloated.   "I will report to the Emperor Dalek.   We will conquer this system.   We will be victorious!   The Dalek shall reign supreme." 

Deep inside the quicksilver aliens, loyalty programming stirred, then fell silence.   Skynet, daleks, whatever.   The terminator machines were loyal to whomever they were programmed to obey.   Finding themselves on an alien landscape and suddenly cut off from the Skynet, the terminators had immediately destroyed all bioforms they encountered but attempted to seek information from what they identified as mechanical forms. 

The tide of battle had turned in the dalek's favour as their technicians had seized the initiative. 

Ted considered what he was going to send in to mop up the dalek and terminator union.  Predators?  Borg?  

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Oh no, not THEM!   
by Kestral

Ted had shot some camouflaged passive sensors into the area. Data was collected and began being sent to the moon of Teknos for analysis.

The cyborg life forms shaped like a pinecone had subsumed command of the purely machine warriors after a few skirmishes between the two. Determine the mechanism and those machine warriors could be either immobilized or brought about to Teknosian command. This was the simplest and most desirable outcome, and would allow for further study of these warriors and their curious technology.

Other Mongolian ships had long been on patrol in the area, and were now being upgraded so as to keep up the quarantine.

Would you believe that he was a mad scientist?. How about a weird science student? How about a fourteen year old kid playing at being a mad scientist and finding himself way in over his head?

Well, actually, that was Koichi's general description, and he was deeply regretting that he had chosen "rule the world" as an occupation goal when he could simply have retro digitized some Playboy bunnies and had a fun weekend.

Unfortunately, he had two things going for him that he had in common with the typical "Ranma 1/2" character. Stubbornness and a lack of common sense. A wiser or more intelligent 14 year old boy would have just called it off, gone home, loaded some typically plotless hentai video featuring a lot of curvaceous and willing babes and had a party.

Instead what Koichi did was similar to the story of the old woman and the fly. There once was an old lady who swallowed a fly (i don't know why she swallowed the fly), and swallowed a spider to catch the fly, and swallowed a bird to catch the spider, and swallowed a cat to catch the bird, and swallowed a dog to catch the bird... and so on. The situation was beginning to resemble that and similar old 'Cautionary Tales' but who was Koichi to listen to old stories or historical parallels?

Koichi looked over his video collection and tried to figure out what he could do to fix the situation. What could possibly stand up to the Terminators, the Daleks, and the few Alien xenomorphs still running around? What could he toss out that would not be hostile to him?

Koichi grinned as he spotted one seldom watched tape sitting there. Something he'd never really gotten into, but if anything could withstand those frigid temperatures and start bringing down the Daleks, this would!

Huh? Wait a minute. Wrong tape! He had put the wrong tape in the 'Record Of Lodoss Wars' box.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Not THEM!" Even evil mad scientists (or wanna be) had some standards.

"Mew?"

"I don't read Martian but I think I know what it means."

"Meow?" asked Shampoo.

"I think it means 'Out Of Gas'," said Akane, noting that they were beginning to fall towards a red planet.

Clank!

"I think that means we're saved," said Akane hopefully.

"Why are we rescuing them?" Ensign Extra queried as he operated the big robot arm of the Space Garbage Truck Luxion.

"Orders from the days of Emperor Wang the Unlucky," said Lieutenant Ace, the unfortunate captain of this vessel. Once he'd been a highly decorated fighter pilot. Once he'd been a promising young officer of the Mongolian Space Force. Alas, for the error in judgement - one lousy decision fifteen years previous - and now he captained a garbage scow. Damn that Katrina! "Ships which are in distress not belonging to a designated enemy are to be rescued when possible."

"Pfeh," said Ensign Extra, who'd wanted to see both ships burn up in their respective atmospheres.

"Be that as it may, the Moonians and these Martians are not a designated enemy," said Ace. "At least if they are, I haven't seen a memo. Set their ship into Bay #3 with the other one and repressurize it. Queen, Joker, Jack, Deuce? Bay#3. Find out what kind of atmosphere these Martians use and make them comfortable. Three? As a Teknosian, perhaps you could look over the ships and fix them?"

The intercom crackled. "Statement: will comply. Observation: recording of inspection will be sent to Teknos for further study and technological evaluation."

"We're on it, boss," came the gruff voice of Deuce as his team replied.

"And make sure that large animal is penned up," said Ace. "Something that large has to be a carnivore!"

Meanwhile, back on Glacia, the creatures that Koichi had retro digitized out where they could fight the Terminators/Daleks/Xenomorphs was now running into some problems as they were:

Smurfs. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: A Dark Shade Of Blue  
by Kender

They were small, blue and too numerous to count. Each of them marched away from where they had been brought into existence. It was oddly cold and windy where they were but all they had to do would be to walk and they were certain to get back to the village.  
"La la lalala..," they sang as they made their ways over the icy reaches, surprising those who were already there.

The Daleks looked at the tiny creatures and came to only one conclusion.

And it was not to join in the song.

"That is just so wrong," commented the sensor officer who had been assigned to keep an eye on the visuals of what was happen on Glacia's surface.

"What is?" asked her superior.

"That."

"What are you... EWWW!"

"That's what I thought."

"Poor little guys."

"Yeah. Guess we have to tell the Emperor."

"I think so. Or a General at least."

On the screen, the Daleks were doing things to the Smurfs that were not at all 'Smurf-erific' and completely vicious and nasty.

At the same time,:  
research was continuing on in the Empire.

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: The factories of Teknos [Episode 40858]  
by Kestral  
"Ted" was actually Teknosian Humaniform X(Transformer) -1138. Teknos was one of the moons added by Wang, and they were a machine intelligence that could not reproduce. They could make machines but to make self-aware individuals was beyond their capabilities. They had been built by some ancient humanoid civilization, and Wang had offered them access to Mongolian technology and access to other technologies that the forces of Mongo would eventually contact.  
It was a logical decision. There were just over a thousand Teknosians at the time of Wang's visit. Joining brought them benefit. Not joining meant the continued lack of progress. A war would have further reduced their numbers and brought about no real benefit. So they joined the system of moons orbiting Mongo and built things for the Empire.  
There were now 995 Teknosians, due to scientific curiosity and accidents.  
Teknos had been introduced to a number of strange concepts since their joining. One, Yan had taught them about warfare. Defense, offense, and strategy. All odd concepts for a species that had never known conflict, but learned nonetheless.  
Ted had been befriended by some of the odd Generals in his post as the Speaker For Teknos. The data he'd gathered had been disseminated and studied.  
THX-1137 was one of Ted's "brothers" - which is to say that 1137 was created about the same time, and had been a Humaniform capable of transforming. His Core Unit couldn't be changed, but the outer housing could easily be so. THX-1137 had gone to the automated factories to discover why the robots being produced seemed to be of significantly different technological standards than was expected.  
The answers were sent out via relay to all of Teknos, who stopped what they were doing to gawk at the data.  
The clunky steam-driven factories had been replaced by quietly humming, gleaming chrome, automated factories that purred away where they had clanked before. 1137 requested logs from the main processors to discover that the Emperor had somehow done this. Mechanism unknown but it had occurred during a slideshow presentation of the Teknosian factories and the Emperor's stated designs for new robots and vehicles.  
The exploration of the factories had produced many anomalous results, and after over a week, 1137 was prepared to make his final report on the matter.  
He still had no idea how this had happened or why, but 1137 did have a handle on the 'what' end of things.  
The new factories could still not produce a Teknosian. None of the machines were self-aware or independent when they left. They were considerably more advanced than Teknosian science could have previously produced but no immediate solution to the Teknosian problem seemed available.  
New body stylings, on the other hand, were possible. Their Core Units could be fit into something that worked more like the bodies they'd had several downgrades ago - when they hadn't been able to replace their old bodies due to a lack of resources on their homeworld and key processes seemingly vanished.  
1137 requested a trial run. He could extract the Core Unit from another Teknosian, then reinstall it into the new shape. Queries on potential shapes were requested.  
847, a particularly old unit, provided data. They had accessed and recorded many of the Emperor's concepts about robots and researched them through the media of his former homeworld. A wealth of designs had been unearthed at that time. There was also this 'seraglio' thing to consider. Was this not a further opportunity to fulfill their duties to the Empire and gather more data besides?  
Finally, 1241 began transit to the factory via Mongolian transport. 1241 was in need of major system overhaul anyway and was the logical choice for such a thing.  
1137 extracted the softball-sized Core Unit without difficulty, and watched emotionlessly as the factory broke up the stained chrome of the previous housing. At the end of the factory, a new unit - shaped quite differently - was decanted a mere 35 minutes 14.0371 seconds after the initial design was chosen.  
Everything checked out. 1241 was now a fully functional android patterned after:  
Ai No Senshi, Cutey Honey desu!

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Senshi Of Another Type  
by Kender

For many of the races of Mongo, it had been a simple choice as to whom they would choose to be their candidate for the sergalio. They simply went by a sense of their own aesthetics, what they expected the Emperor to like and the fact that the young lady in question had to be a princess. It was a matter of pride and honor for them, as well as partially being politics.  
But to those from Teknos, it was a matter of determining particulars and finding the logical answers to them. Every single possible need and situation was considered and there was nothing that they considered too minute. This was something that they were not going to allow to fall into error.

It was the end product of some very deep considerations.

Query: Would this form be a viable candidate for the sergalio?  
Answer: As far as could be determined.

Query: Would the candidate be attractive to Emperor?  
Answer: According to the research of his home world's media and the appearances of the other candidates, there was over a 99.832% chance.

Query: With the Emperor's wish that the sergalio also work security, would the candidate be able to accomplish that standard?  
Answer: With the designs that had been put forth, this unit would be a useful member in that regard.

Which was why there was now a busty redhead standing on the floor.

"Query: Are you functioning within parameters?" asked 1137.

The redhead blinked and twisted around to see her new body. "I feel fine."

"Query: Then the operation was a success?"

"It seems to be that way."

"Query: Are you ready for your new function?"

"I... think so," replied 1241 (a.k.a. 'Honey') while:

Ukyo was getting ready to go after her Ran-chan.

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Ukyo's Space Oddity  
by Kestral

Ukyo paid the nice anthropomorphic coyote for the "slightly used" spaceship and looked it over appreciatively.  
This was a rocketship. Fins, sleek lines, burnished chrome everywhere.

Since it was a new purchase there was one thing that had to be done first off, and that was to look over the interior.

The controls were absurdly simple. A joystick, a large Red button, a smaller green button, and a dial.

Fiddling with the dial brought up some interesting settings. [End Of The Universe], [Fred], [Fearless Freep's], [Gargimel's Tower], [George's Jungle Hut], [Heck], [Hell], [Hossenfeffer's Lab], and so on. There were some that were tempting [Eden] and some she hurried the dial past [R'yeleh] for reasons she wasn't quite sure of, and others that seemed to call to her of a simpler time [Mayberry RFD], and even a few that seemed well-worn [Acme Looniversity] when she stopped the dial on a particular setting.

This would work!

There before her was the obvious choice. Between [Way Out There] and [Whataburger] was [Wayward Fiance]!

So, even as Shampoo and Akane found themselves on a space garbage truck, listening to a couple of identical twins explain that the pretty one was a clone...

Even as Kodachi and a panda attempted to get out of straitjackets (on hearing Kodachi's laugh they'd decided not to take any chances) on the same ship...

Even as the Teknosian seraglio candidate made her way to the Yamato and her Emperor...

Even as Koichi the would-be conqueror came up with something better than the ill-fated smurfs to deal with the three way battle still going on in this thread on the surface of Glacia...

Even as General Mille was putting the final touches on some additional seraglio candidates, and getting together with Nodoka for some quality assurance testing...

Even as Ryouga screamed "Ranma, this is all your fault! I'll have my vengeance on you yet!" and the various pursuing alien fleets decided that perhaps this "Ranma" was an enemy of their enemy and someone to ally themselves with...

And even as Ukyo finished closing up the Ucchan's to go find/rescue Ranma...

And even as Fluffy the dorok wondered if he would ever find a new owner...

Uniting for the first time in their hunt for Ryouga, various races begin to form an alliance that will eventually lead to galactic peace and a Confederation Of Planets.

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Creating Peace  
by Kender  
For many years, they had been races at odds with each other. Due to their own needs, wants and cultures, they had found that they had plans that would inevitably lead to conflict somewhere. Wars, great and small had been fought between them, and treaties made, but there had never really been any common ground between them before.  
Until Ryouga had decided to go out on his ship that was. What resulted from that one act had done something that was truly a first in their shared history.  
They were all together in one place and not in the process of shooting one another.  
"I demand that something be done about this... this... creature!" snarled a two meter tall being who was covered in what looked like spikes as he slammed a fist onto the table.  
Next to him, what looked to be a woman covered in feathers nodded. "We understand that Ritar, and we agree with you. But we have not managed to do anything as of yet."  
"Exactly my point Twee'phha!"  
"Which is why we are here. To discuss the matter, and figure out how we can find and stop this scourge of the stars."  
Leaning back in his own seat, a man with red skin and blond hair shook his head. "Trust a Lillia to be so eloquent with words."  
"And trust a Devar to be so sneaky with his... 'compliments', Zandan."  
"Point to you, my dear Ambassador."  
"This is getting us nowhere!" barked Ritar, "We have, what, thirty different diplomats from as many worlds? And not one of them can come up with a workable plan!"  
"Plan needed, work together," interjected a small creature who had a great similarity to a giant rodent.  
"Oh and now Ch'chir of the Khidic wishes to make silly comments!"  
"Not silly. Work in burrows."  
"You may enjoy living underground, but do not presume to drag the rest of us down there."  
"Not live. Many workers, different jobs."  
"What are you babbling about?" asked Zandan.  
"Doing all wrong. No race can catch, yes?"  
"We knew that already. It is why we are here after all."  
"Then don't all do."  
"You have lost me..."  
"Each worker do job only that one can."  
"So?"  
"Each race do what they do best."  
"Tell us more," Twee'phha sid, leaning foward interestedly.  
"Khidic very good at listening when not seen. And Lillia very good at going fast."  
"It is true that our ships are fast."  
"Can carry messages then."  
"To whom would we do that."  
"Ritar's people very strong. They fight, make boom, Ryouga go away."  
"We would indeed," agreed Ritar smugly.  
"Other races do good job. Devar can investigate, and so on."  
"By the weapons of my forefathers, I think that the little vermin has a real idea..."  
"Need details for rules though."  
"You will have them," Zandan told the small Ambassador.  
And thus began the work to create the task force to find and stop one Ryouga Hibiki. With this plan, the individual races would work together for a common goal. With that one success, would come others, until the spirit of understanding would lead to a Confederation of Planets.  
So, quite unintentionally, the Lost Boy had helped to create future galactic peace by being one of the worst menaces that they had ever seen.  
He didn't know of this however, and continued to look for a way to get away from his pursuers and finally get to his destination while:  
things were happening on Glacia.

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: That's just Smurfy.  
by Greyman  
"Dddon't wor-r-r-ry my lit-t-t-ttle smur-r-r-rfs," chattered the tiny blue humanoid in red hat and pants.  "I'l-l-l-l hav-v-ve us t-t-t-oast-t-ty war-r-rm in n-n-n-no t-t-time."  
"Quite with the jabbering and make with the bipity bobbity boo!" chastised the anchient blue humanoid in gold pants and hat.  "We're freezing our tails off here ya young whippersnapper."  
"Hur-r-ry P-p-pap-p-p-ppa sm-mur-rf!" cried the female in the short daisy-print skirt.  "We'r-r-r-re not-t-t-t dr-r-r-ressed for-r-r- th-h-h-hiss kind of-f-f-ff weat-ther-r-r!"  
"Smur-r-r-rfet-t-t-tte, Smur-r-r-rfet-t-tte," chittered the young male in glasses, "I'm-m-m sur-r-r-re Pap-p-p-p-ppaa Smur-r-rf-f kn-now-w-ws what-t-t-t he's-s doing-g-g.  Her-r-re Pap-p-ppa Smur-r-rf-f, let-t-t me giv-v-ve you a hand-d-d!"  
"Nooooooo!" screamed the rest of the freezing blue humanoids.  
"SNICKERSNAAAP!" clicked the inner jaws of the chitinous alien.  
"Oh no!  Brainy's been eaten by a horrible icky monster!" cried the female.  
"YAE!" cheered the rest as they started to run as fast as their big frozen feet could carry them.  
"Well my little Smurfs, it looks like we won't freeze to death after all," the elder in red commented optimistically.  
"Oh, that's smurfy," the female muttered distractedly.  
"That's because we're all going to be eaten!" the eldest commented sarcastically.  
"I hate being eaten!" summarised one of the others.  
"Don't eat me, Mr. Monster!" pleased a vane one.  "I'm too smurfy to die.  Take Greedy, he's got calories to spare!"  
"This is it, then?" one of them remarked.  "So we're all going to die?  Smurfette, I can't die without telling you that I don't ha..."  
"Yae!  We're saved!" cried the little blue humanoids as they collapsed with relief.  
"... I hate it when that happens," concluded the confessor grumpily as he came to a stop and turned to look at their saviour.  
"We're saved by.... by.... some kind of big cat doggy thing," the elder in red observed.  "What kind of creature is that?"  
"I don't know," the elder in gold commented.  "But, by Jimminy, its sure making fast work of that bug eyed monster!  Ahem, now that we're all warmed up by that fright, I suggest we all hightail it outta here before that there critter decides to have us for dessert!"  
"Don't worry, Grandpappy," a younger female cried sassily, "I'm sure that it's a smurfy doggy."  
"It is k-k-kind of smurfy," the older female observed as the beast sniffed curiously in her direction.  "Nic-c-ce dog-g-gy!"  
The rest of the humanoids watched in horrified awe as the two females began to placate the beast.  They patted its nose, stroked its whiskers and let it bathe them with its enormous tongue.  
"He likes us," the younger female cried, as slobber iced up her red hair.  "He really likes us."  
"I know, let's call him Fluffy!" the older female cried happily as she snuggled into the soft, warm, white fur.  
Then a metal can monster glided around the corner.  The humanoids cried in fright until they noticed that it was had a large chunk ripped off of it and there were smurfs inside.  
"Pappa Smurf!  Papa Smurf!" cried the pilot as he waved a spanner for attention.  "Look at what we did!"  
"I know, let's all sing the Smurf Song!" the blonde cried ditzily.  And on that note we go....  
... back aboard the Yamato where an Away Team is being preparing to be dropped onto the icy moon.

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Now That is an Away Team!  
by Kestral  
Having observed the destruction on Glacia, and having determined that there were indeed some surviving native Glacians (a small military outpost that was running low on ammo and food), the exhausted looking Emperor was pulled briefly away from getting to know new seraglio members ("How many moons has Mongo got anyway?!") and was asked what he wanted to do.  
Not being a tactical genius, but knowing what he wanted to see, Ranma gave an order.  
A number of troops cheered because they'd also wanted to see this.  
The giant robots landed. Approaching Daleks were turned into tin foil scrap by Deathscythe Gundam. They were trampled underfoot by Macross Destroids. They blowed up real good when Aura Battler Dunbine turned its attention to them.  
The xenomorphs discovered that they didn't fare all that well either. They were swatted like bugs when discovered, and then suppressing fire was laid around the robots indiscriminately because, well, nobody wanted to face the Mechanics Squads if they had to repair all that acid damage.  
Ranma didn't know that he was supposed to go down with the Away Team and an under defended group of investigators, that it was a tradition from the days of Star Trek and earlier works. So, instead he left the decision to General Grimm, just suggesting he'd like to see how the giant robots worked.  
General Grimm made his decision as a military person confronted with this situation. Establish a landing zone through the use of missiles clearing a section of ice/ground. Kill anything that comes within sight unless it is clearly not hostile. Proceed to Ice Base Ixia and form a defensive perimeter.  
General Grimm had interpreted "Away" to mean "Blast hostiles away" team.  
Ranma munched popcorn and watched the giant robots of his youth shooting pepper grinders and tried to catch his breath.

 

Ami Mizuno read about Mongo while heading towards the new Emperor's room.  
Mongo had known several Emperors.  
Ming The Merciless had been the quintessential Evil Overlord. Though frankly it depended on your company. Next to Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini, Hussein, or a number of terrestrial emperors - he was actually a pretty nice guy. Next to Sauron or Palpatine, Ming would have been fairly "white bread". Your typical Yakuza oyabun or Mafia gang boss or Guatamalan Drug Lord would have considered Ming to be petty and not nearly ruthless enough.  
In short, when it came to nasty, Ming had been outdated and out-evilled by humans.  
Ming had had his good points too. It had been the first peace and the first cooperation between the moons of Mongo under his empire. There had actually been less killing under his rule than there had been previously.  
Ming had been replaced by Wang. Wang was almost a polar opposite of Ming - a charismatic leader who wanted to bring the races of Mongo into a new era of peace and prosperity. He'd had the best of intentions until he'd been assassinated by the eaglemen. Wang had used persuasion, logic, and had been an Usagi sort of personality combined with an Ami sort of intellect. Wang had been interested in bringing the standard of living up for all races of Mongo, but many of his dreams had fallen with his death.  
Wang had been replaced by Yan. A vaguely oriental empire had been replaced by a charismatic technocrat which had been replaced by a military dictatorship. Yan was a warmonger, violent, apparently impotent according to notes from his seraglio, and had had a shorter rule than either Wang or Ming.  
The Nameless Emperor was apparently someone who embarrassed the heck out of practically everyone, and everyone in Mongo society would apparently rather forget the incident had ever occurred. That Emperor's name had been stricken from the records, his rule had been shorter than Yan's, and nobody was interested in investigating who had blown him up because there were too many suspects and too much relief that he was finally gone.  
Then came Ranma Saotome of Planet Earth.  
Ranma was, according to the records she was reading, extremely skilled. A warrior who fought many of the arena beasts for sport with his bare hands.  
Ranma was, according to accounts given by others, in possession of extraordinary stamina and a....  
Ami fanned herself and put those accounts aside. She'd, uhm, study them in greater detail later. Yes. That was right.  
According to the next set of reports, her Ranma, err, her Emperor - was extremely popular. The troops liked him. The common folk liked him. Certain groups pointed to all the satiated princesses and declared Ranma to be a man beyond Ming! The Generals generally liked him.  
Ami frowned. Practically everyone liked Ranma except for two Generals. General D'arc and General Bludi both used terms to indicate that they thought that Emperor Ranma was a fop and an idiot without actually stating that this was their thinking.  
Otherwise almost everyone felt that Ranma Saotome was a good Emperor. Not a great one but good enough and things were better under him than they were under the previous two.  
Wang had been better at a lot of things, but apparently had lacked a certain survival instinct.  
Ami checked the time and nodded. She had just enough time to finish getting ready, then she'd be introduced to the Emperor.

 

Meanwhile, Koichi had decided that to deal with the changing situation, he'd have to retro digitize something that could deal with Daleks and Terminators and Smurfs. And where had these giant robots come from?  
Selecting another tape and crossing his fingers, Koichi retro digitized:  
the three Klingon warships from the first Star Trek movie.

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: 'Tis A Good Day To Retro Digitize  
by Kender  
Out above the clouds of Glacia, the starfields blurred a bit as the space there twisted. It stretched and pulled as what seemed to be lightning arced through it in a dazzling display of light. This grew until it reached a final point and there was a flash of light.  
When that light had faded, there were now three Klingon ships, looking just as they had on the screen. Koichi was well pleased, since this meant that there would be fighters who were not the out of control machines and beasts that he had brought out before. surely they would listen to the person who had brought them to this universe, saving them from being taken by V'ger!  
Unfortunately, he had not really been paying attention to the little particulars about those he had retro digitized.  
"What is this human bleating about?" asked the captain of the lead ship as he watched Koichi's communique.  
His first officer snorted. "Who knows? Something about telling us what to do, and... bringing us here..."  
"What? That... child says that he brought us here?"  
"So he says, but it's probably nothing but some delusion."  
"True. Though the last thing that I remember is that we were going to be overtaken by that... cloud, Even if it is a new Federation weapon, I doubt that even they would put a child in charge of it."  
"Not even the humans would be that foolish."  
"Exactly. Now get that idiot off of my screen and find something for us to do that is actually worthwhile."  
"I think that I have something sir," commented the sensor officer as Koichi's protesting image was replaced by a starfield.  
"What is it?"  
"There seems to be a group of ships not far from our current position."  
"Yes?"  
"By what we can detect, they seem to be a military convoy of some type, but we can not tell where they came from."  
"Then we should go find out," said the captain and there was a series of grins amongst those on the bridge. "Tell the other two ships to join us. This promises to be an interesting day yet."  
So, the trio of ships moved from where they had been retro digitized and headed to where Ranma's ships were while:  
Ranma's fleet had detected the Klingons.

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: There's Klingons off the starboard bow...  
by Kestral  
"Observation: Extradimensional aperture detected," stated Ted. "Analysis: Three warships detected as well as transmission from planetside. Statement: further analysis will require time."  
"Let's see what you got," said Ranma, staggering in and taking a comm chair. Man, that one Princess was as bad as Leona. It was always the bookish types, wasn't it?  
"Bringing up," grunted a Volcanian Lieutenant.  
Ranma's eyes went wide as he recognized the ships. "KLINGONS?!"  
"Klingons, my lord?" General Grimm asked, wondering what kind of starship was a Klingon. They didn't even have exhaust ports!  
"From 'Star Trek' - a warrior race that uses these curved swords in fights," Ranma explained. Hmmm. He could maybe get some good sparring in. If they were a warrior race they had to have martial arts, right?  
"Ah," said the General, noting the Emperor's eagerness. Well, he felt a bit eager himself. It would be a great release of tension to go beat on a menace that wasn't constantly changing.  
"Sir, they're approaching," said the lion man at the helm. "They're  
hailing us."

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Across the Universe  
by Kender  
Ranma blinked. "Ya mean that they want to talk to us?"  
"Yes Sir," answered the comm officer.  
"Uh... okay. I guess we should answer them."  
"I'll put them on the main screen."  
Up on said screen came the image of a Klingon decked out in full warrior regalia. *"I am Captain Korith of the Imperial Klingon Ship Borath. To whom do I have the pleasure of facing this day?"*  
"Um... I'm Ranma Saotome... Emperor Of Mongo, and captain of the Yamato."  
*"Emperor? What of your precious Federation, boy-child?"*  
Only allowing himself to grit his teeth, the pigtailed boy tried to keep his calm. "There ain't a 'Federation' around here."  
*"You mean to tell me that you are some kind of ruler?"*  
"Uh... sorta."  
*"Not again. How could a culture allow a boy to rule them?"*  
"I was kind of next in line."  
*"I see. So, child-Emperor, are you going to give me a good fight?"*  
"A fight? Cool!"  
*"What are you talking about?"*  
"Ya got those curved swords, right?"  
*"Are you talking about our bat`leths?"*  
"That's them! Ya mind bringing them for the fight?"  
*"What are you talking about?"*  
The pigtailed boy shrugged. "It ain't any fun ta get inta a fight if there ain't any challenge."  
*"This human..," muttered Korith, "His life, but not as we know it."*  
"Did ya say something?"  
*"Nothing of importance. But do I understand you right? Do you actually wish to fight a Klingon warrior face-to-face?"*  
"Ain't any other way to really get a good match in."  
Korith studied the boy from the screen for a moment before apparently deciding:  
that he liked the way that this human thought!

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: The Klingon Challenge  
by Ijuin-kun

Korith pondered this. This human boy-emperor wished to fight a Klingon warrior in single combat? Ordinarily, Korith would have scoffed at the idea of a human being a match for a Klingon, but this particular human had an air of confidence that Korith admired.  
So be it, then. If the boy-emperor actually won, then it would be because he had the heart of a true warrior, something that Korith could respect. If he was defeated, then it would show these foolish humans the superiority of the Klingon ways.

Furthermore, this was something that any true Klingon warrior would look forward to. This was the way of the warrior--not to fly about in starships firing phasers and disruptors at each other, but face to face in single combat, a match of skill to see who was truly the better fighter. That the human boy-emperor understood this well enough to personally challenge him in such a way was admirable. Besides, no true Klingon warrior would refuse a challenge.

"Very well," Korith said. "I accept your challenge to single combat. We shall fight using hand weapons and bare handed attacks only. Your opponent shall be . . ."  
One of my officers

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: The Klingon Challenge - Ranma's Dilemma  
by Bryan  
"Very well," Korith said. "I accept your challenge to single combat. We shall fight using hand weapons and bare handed attacks only. Your opponent shall be Kev'lar, the finest warrior under my command second only to me....I should know...."  
As if on cue, Kev'lar stepped into view and stood next to Korith for Ranma and the others to see on the viewscreen....  
"She's my daughter...." (beautiful, experienced, and *deadly* - coughChun-Licoughpossibleseragliomembercough)

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: It's life, Jim, but not as we know it.  
by Kestral

The Klingons were a little put off.  
A little at least.

The Federation was composed of many races, but the technology and "feel" of the Federation was completely different from what they were now seeing.

A lot of what they were now seeing, in fact, looked kind of homelike.

K'vlar was young and tough and lithe and deadly. If you were in the military and female, you had to be just to survive. She wasn't impressed so far.

The Klingons did indeed practice a form of martial arts, as the race that practiced it - it was not a graceful form. More along the line of pankration combined with dirty streetfighting. K'vlar was an expert, the best HTH fighter on the three ships.

"The Emperor is just warming up," said a big slab of rock as he beckoned the Klingons forward.

The contingent looked down onto the floor of the arena and gaped briefly.

"I could do that," said K'vlar without a trace of confidence in her voice.

"Can I get one of those?" asked Subcommander Akrath, pointing at what the human Emperor was warming up with.

'One of those' was something about the size of a terrestrial tiger, with eight limbs, claws and teeth nearly everywhere, thick armor plating on its body, and what looked like poisonous spines on the tail.

To a Klingon aesthetic system, the beastie was quite attractive.

Dodging wildly and hitting the beast with kicks and punches that quite clearly staggered the creature despite the plating, was a human boy in his mid-teens. That is - when he wasn't a blur racing around the beastie.

"That's the Emperor," said Koith with a doomed certainty.

"Yes. Ah, he's finishing up, does your champion require a warmup?" General Grimm asked the warriors.

"No, I stretched out on the way," said K'vlar, who didn't really fancy going up against that sort of beast bare-handed.

Ranma hit the beast one final time, then watched it run off into its cage to lick its wounds. "Hey," he called up to the gallery, "that one was pretty good. He almost got me a couple of times. Give him something extra for his troubles, will ya?"

General Grimm nodded. Ming had had a soft place in his heart for the more fearsome arena monsters as well.

"Are you ready then?" General Grimm asked K'vlar.  
K'vlar fights Ranma. Ranma wins

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Star Fightin'  
by Kender  
The Klingon people were a warrior race through and through. They lived and breathed the idea and concepts of battle. While the skills of war could be an art to some, they were a way of life to the Klingons. Honor came from facing your challenges and dealing with them head on. There would be no greater glory than to die in the face of battle.  
With that came a style of fighting that became a martial art of its own. Over time it grew to become, while never terribly fancy, more than adequate to get the job done. Some even studied so long and hard that they became revered masters of their style.  
K'vlar was not a master (or mistress), but she had become quite skilled in her style of fighting. That, combined with a Klingon's natural physical strength and prowess allowed her to be more than a match for any normal human.  
However, Ranma Saotome was not a normal human.  
The pigtailed boy grinned as he watched her walk into the area. "Ya ready for this?"  
"I am always ready, human," she told him, twirling her bat`leth.  
"Good. Then let's get started."  
"BEGIN!" shouted General Grimm.  
Not wasting any time, K'vlar charged swinging her weapon at his head. Ranma shifted his weight and bent so that it barely missed his face. Taking the initiative, she tried moving while she swung, attempting to restrict his movements to make him easy to hit. But he bobbed and weaved around the curved blade so that it seemed he was doing so effortlessly.  
"Fight me!" she demanded.  
He shrugged. "'Kay."  
She went to take another strike,and was surprised as his fist jabbed into the space just below her breasts. Her armor took much of the blow, but it was still sufficient to stagger her for a moment. Then came pain as he grabbed and twisted her arms, causing her to release her bat`leth. Which was followed by Ranma jumping back as a pain blossomed across his chest.  
A long slice had been taken out of his shirt and a thin line of blood had appeared on his chest. Across from him, K'vlar held her D`k tahg in her hand, the middle blade of the three pronged dagger shining with a drop of red.  
She grinned as she faced him down. Her blood was singing with the call of battle. This was how a battle should be. Even through the pain that she felt, she could help but feel... exhilarated.  
Going into a low stance, she rushed toward him, to jab her dagger into where he was. He dodged that blow, and grabbed her arms to send her into a throw. With a thud, she crashed into the ground, but was back up with in moments.  
This time Ranma moved forward, and struck towards her midsection. But as she tried to block it, it turned out to be a feint, and he slammed his leg into the backs of her knees. That would have only made her stumble if he had not slammed his palms into her shoulders. With those strikes, she was sent sprawling back to the floor.  
Yet, she drew herself up, and tossed her dagger at him. When he went to duck, she was there and sent a punch into his chest. With a grunt, he took it, and stood his ground with a smirk. Grabbing the arm, he held her in position as he twisted around and used it as a pivot for a kick to the back.  
Breath exploded from her lungs, but he didn't let her go that easily. Releasing her arm, he sent a blow to her temple that dropped her to the floor, this time unconscious.  
He stood there a moment, while:  
the Smurfs were fighting back with the help of Fluffy!  
Emperor Ranma of Mongo: When did this happen?  
by Galen, the Last of the First

"BWA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAH. DIE YOU MAGGOTS DIEEEEEEEEEE!"

Smurfs are not anime characters and as such are not meant to be able to sweat drop. However the little blue guys were learning a great many new things lately and sweat dropping was something they were getting quite good at.

The cause of this was Papa Smurf who was currently in charge of the guns of the Smurflek. It seemed that the stress of the situation had finally gotten to the oldest Smurf because he was currently engaged in blasting away at a Xenomorph, that Fluffy had winged, while laughing in a rather demented manner.

"Isn't it nice that Papa Smurf is starting to cheer up again?" commented Smurfette brightly.

There was even more Sweat dropping.

See how a certain 'Genius' is handling this new development.

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: The Smurfenator!  
by dogbertcarroll  
The Smuflek shook around them as Papa Smurf unloaded another blast at an approaching xenomorph. Papa Smurf's evil laughter echoed through the vessel sounding a lot more like Gargamel's then anyone was comfortable hearing. "Take that you Smurfing smurfers!"  
Handy shudder to hear it, knowing that he had to do something before Papa Smurf lost all his smurfiness.  
Smurf's just weren't made for war. It had a strange effect on them. For instance, Papa Smurf's insistence that Grouchy and Greedy wear red shirts just made no sense. He was definitely smurfing it, and not in a good way. Something had to be done and soon.  
So Handy had decided that if Smurfs couldn't battle... then they must create something to battle in their place, even if he had to use magic to help create it.  
That's why The smurflings and Grandpappy Smurf were with him gathered around a blob of liquid metal singing loudly.  
A silver xenomorph had attacked them, but for some reason their singing had driven it off so fast it had left part of its own hand in the Smuflek. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough.  
Consulting with Grandpappy, while the smurflings pinned it in place by standing around it and singing, they came up with a workable plan.  
Grandpappy was reading aloud from 'The Big Book of Smurf', his voice taking on an eerie cadence as he harmonized with the smurflings. The words seemed to fade from the mind just as soon as they were heard.  
He motioned occasionally for Handy to toss something into the squirming pool of liquid metal at certain times.  
*PLOP*  
A rectangle from the head of one of the human shaped machine.  
*PLOP*  
A handful of smurfberries.  
*PLOP*  
A pinch of magic dust.  
*PLOP*  
One of Jokey's surprises.  
*Blink*  
"One of Jokey's surprises? That wasn't suppose to go in there."  
The laughter behind him cued him into exactly who was responsible. "JOKEY!"  
The hissing sound from Jokey's surprise began to get louder, just as Grandpappy Smurf was winding down to the final incantation.  
"Klatu Verata..." *BOOM* "...Nickel."  
Everyone was blown back by the blast as it fused with the magic, raising a fog of burnt gunpowder at the epicenter.  
Grandpappy Smurf put it very succinctly when he simply said in a very worried voice "Oh, Smurf."  
The smurflings even quieted down as a shape began to form in the smoke.  
"Congratulations Jokey. You may have just smurfed us all!"  
"Ahhh, Come on Handy. I was just having a little fun."  
Visions of Jokey wearing a red shirt began to run through Handy's brain as he saw the smoke swirled away.  
Standing where the pool of metal had been was a silver smurf with the most evil grin he had ever seen. "Come smurf some!"


	2. begining

Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma 1/2 or any other crossover characters. They are owned by their respective owners. Not out to make any money or fame on others work.

Emperor Ranma of Mongo  
Ranma starts his day  
by Bast!

Ranma woke up slowly, as always, for sleep was one of his favorite things in the world, and he begrudged its end. 

In other words, he was starting to get just as lazy as his father. 

He lay with his eyes closed for a while, trying to hold on to his dream. It had been something about... a girl... or something... He groaned, frustratedly, when he realized he had already forgotten all but the most vague impression of it. It had been pleasantly warm and fuzzy, but he had no idea what it had been about anymore. 

Grudgingly he opened his eyes and took stock of the situation. 

 

The realization 

by Richard Lawson

Ranma shook her head, feeling strangely confused. She stood up and walked over to the hallway. 

Akane heard her open the door and turned to smile at her. "Good morning, Ranko. Sleep okay?" 

"Ranko?" Ranma frowned. "Why are you calling me... Ranko?" 

"Because we're not at school, stupid." Akane frowned. "Are you feeling okay? What's wrong?" 

 

wake up, Try two..  
by Rei Inverse

Ranko frowned. Yes.. that must be it.. he was Dreaming.. but why would he be Dreaming this? 

"probably Because I didn't Want to startle you to much.. the Most recent curse you Acquired, Myself, is having some trouble integrating with your other Curses.. there are some... complications.." 

Ranma Jumped to his feet and spun to face the Voice.. and Promptly Screamed as he noticed the Red furred cat, a female Version of himself, a swirling cloud of purple mist, a Black star filled Void with a pair of arms, a bucket of water, a shaolin Priest, and a floating Sword. he quickly Scampered into a corner of the room and pointed at the cat, obviously Terrified of it. "ca-ca-ca-ca-cat!!!!" 

the sword seemed look from Ranma to the cat. "oh, I forgot about that.. Neko, could you hide for now? we need to tell him what is going on. and we need him to be calm for it.." 

the cat nodded. "meow." and simply disappeared. 

after a minute or two, ranma had calmed down. "There, that's better. now, as I was saying, there have been complications... because of me getting added to your collection of curses, you have reached Critical Magical Mass. We pulled you into this dream to inform you that they should become more active over the next few Days..." the Sword said. 

the Shaolin Priest approached. "we can not hold him any longer.. it is time for him to wake up. 

and so he did.. 

 

With Great Will: Winning The Prize. 

by Greyman

Ranma groaned. The next to last thing he remembered was a nine-foot tall angelic being, complete with wings, toga and flowing beard, appearing out of a lightning bolt to announce, "RANMA SAOTOME, YOUR NUMBER HAS COME UP!" 

"Ack!? I'm dead?" Ranma exclaimed with a panic attack as his butt hit the park soil. 

"REALLY?" the being asked in confusion, then turned the volume down to add, "you look pretty lively to me. But I guess you can't always tell, can you?" 

"But you just said my number came up." 

"What? No, no, no. Your lottery number. You've won the pan dimensional sweepstakes, ain't you." The being began rummaging around inside his toga with three of his four arms. "Hang on a tick. I've got it here somewhere. Ah ha!" Pulling out a glowing blue sphere of energy he held it down towards Ranma. 

"What the heck is that?" Ranma demanded warily. 

"It's your Prize, innit. The power to control almost anything in this universe. Come on, come on, I haven't got all eon, you know." 

Ranma cautiously extended his hand. The whatever-it-was sparked from the being's outstretched hand, discharging along the finger and grounded through Ranma's arm. There was a brief pause, then silent thunder detonated, blasting Ranma through a tree. (Much to the later annoyance of the park grounds keeper who was tired of martial artists breaking trees with their heads, fists and stuff.) 

The very last thing he recalled was the being muttering, at full volume, "DELIVERED THE GREAT WILL TO ... Rama Soddom. OH! OH, DEAR. DAMNIT ALL! Uhn. Maybe no one will notice. I'm outta here." 

And then Ranma passed out to awake with surrounded by the Tendo daughters. 

"So what is it this time?" Nabiki demanded coyly. "New challenger? Suitor? Or both?" 

 

The Great Will: Pft. Yeah Right. 

by Greyman

They listened (Nabiki skeptically, Kasumi distractedly and Akane angrily) while Ranma blabbed like a -ahem- explained what had happened to him. 

"So some wandering Kami gave you divine power?" Nabiki scoffed. 

"Hey, it could happen," Ranma protested. 

"Yeah, right, Ranma," Akane snorted. "Like anything as good as that would ever happens to you." 

Ranma opened his mouth to protest, then reconsidered and bowed his head. "Yer right. I have a cursed life, don't I?" He wondered if the dream sequence he'd had while K O 'ed was significant. 

"Well, you could always try it out," Kasumi suggested blithely. "I mean, what harm could it do?" 

Ranma scratched his head. "Er, okay. But I don't really have any idea how it's supposed to work." 

"Ranma you idiot!" Akane snapped. 

"Typical," Nabiki sniped. "Can't you do anything right, Saotome?" 

"Maybe it has something to do with that tattoo?" Kasumi suggested brightly and pointed to his arm. 

Ranma held out his hand. Running down his wrist and up his palm was a glowing neon blue lightning bolt. Ranma and the girls studied it intently. 

"What tattoo?" Nabiki demanded. 

"What'cha mean?" Ranma demanded back. "This tattoo!" 

"Ranma," Akane countered crossly, "there's nothing there." 

Kasumi reached out and traced the lightning fork with a fingernail. The neon glow sparked under the skin, flowing along with her nail, until she tapped the circle on his palm. "Maybe if you channel your ki through this chakra and, make a wish or something?" 

Nabiki and Akane gave their sister a strange look. 

 

 

With Great Will: I'mah nevah gonnah be ah girl-ah-gain! [Episode 707]  
by Greyman

While Ranma did the song and dance routine titled, "I'mah nevah gonnah be ah girl-ah-gain!", Akane and Nabiki traded glances that said, "that's it then, he's totally lost it." Kasumi just looked on benignly. 

"Get on with it, Saotome!" Nabiki snapped impatiently. 

Ranma lifted his hand to his head and channelled his will through the brand. Blue energy bathed him from head to toe. Kasumi shielded her eyes. 

"See, I knew nothing would happen," Nabiki remarked while staring straight into the blaze as if it wasn't there. 

As the glow Akane also couldn't see faded, she picked up a convenient bucket of water and through it's contents over him. Ranma promptly became... 

 

"Ahem... I repeat.... I'mah nevah gonna be ah girl-ah-gain!!!" 

by Red Priest of the 17th Order

All stared in shock as Ranma stood there. He smiled brightly as he saw that he was now soaked with cold water AND STILL MALE!!! 

"I'mah nevah gonna be ah girl-ah-gain! I'mah nevah gonna be ah girl-ah-gain! I'mah nevah gonna be ah girl-ah-gain!" Ranma sighed as he danced. 

Her left eye twitching, Akane stared. She couldn't believe some Kami had chosen to give Ranma the 'Great Will'. "Why does HE get the power to control reality? He's already the greatest martial artist!!!" 

Stopping his song and dance with that said, Ranma looked at Akane. "I thought you were the one always claiming to be the best martial artist?" 

Blushing, Akane tried to stammer out a response, but all she could do was stutter unintelligible stuff. "Baka..." 

Looking down at his feet, Ranma saw his father glomping onto his leg. "BOY! THIS IS WHAT WE'VE ALWAYS WANTED!" Calming down, Genma continued. "Now go on, use your gift and make is so your old man is cured as well. Oh, and make it so the master disappears too!" 

Ranma smiled. He knew what he wanted to do... 

 

Great Will: the whole fiancee mess 

by Kestral

"I wish the whole fiancee mess was sorted out!"

Everything seemed to stop all at once.

When it restarted: 

 

Great Will/Emperor Ranma: It's good to be King  
by Ranma-mite

Size Huge spaceships began appearing in midair. 

Ranma blinked. 

Akane swore. 

Nabiki fainted. 

Kasumi went to make tea. 

Genma and Soun (hiding until now) ran for the hills. 

Ryoga looked up and screamed. What made this particularly interesting was that what he screamed was "Not THEM again!" 

Happosai looked up, crossed himself, and began repenting the sins of his life. This was going to take awhile. 

Cologne swore at the TV set because they'd pre-empted her soaps just because of some damn alien invasion. 

There was a transporter effect and Ranma noticed several female humanoids present, one of whom looked a lot like his mother! 

"My Prince," said one of the girls as she knelt before him, looking a whole heckuva like Meia from Vandread. "The late Emperor has died, victim of an assassination from our opponents. The Emperor is dead. Long live the Emperor!" 

"Huh?!" said Ranma in utter confusion as he was beamed back with all but one of the girls to one of the humongous darn ships hovering in the way that yellow bricks were not supposed to. 

"Wait! Where are you taking him?" Ukyo landed in the yard, spatula drawn. 

"Back to his home planet, where he will be the Emperor. Planet " 

 

Emperor Ranma: Ranma of Mongo  
by Ranma-mite

It was good to be king. Better to be Emperor. 

Ranma found himself whisked off, and as his grandfather (Ming the Merciless, google search: Flash Gordon) had been a hands-on kind of guy, nobody blinked twice at his grandson following in his footsteps as far as self-reliance went. 

Ranma didn't care about a lot of stuff, but on hearing that he had people (?!) who needed him (?!) and how this would royally snark off his father - he decided to go along with it - at least for now. 

It was kinda nice to have people listening to him. 

His Mom was here too, apparently there was a lot about her side of the family she hadn't told him. 

It was also Great-Grandfather Ming (though everyone referred to him as his grandfather due to some cultural thing) who had exiled his mom's family to Earth. Now that Ming the Merciless was dead, Ranma was now Emperor and people were coming to him for decisions. 

He quickly learned to delegate. Delegating was good. Delegating meant that he didn't have to figure out what the heck an "economic forecast" or a "seraglio selection process" meant. 

He also heard that there was some problems with the candidates for this seraglio thing and gal in leather armor and high heels wanted to know if he preferred training, conditioning, or should she get creative? Naturally, as he thought this was some kind of job around the palace - maybe guards - they should be trained AND conditioned AND if she could get creative - so much the better. The gal looked so happy about that, Ranma knew he'd made the right decision. 

Now all he had to do was - 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Merciless Remembrances 

by Kestral

Ranma had become Emperor.

This was not necessarily a bad thing.

Mongo had been ruled by Ming The Merciless (his grandfather) who had united the world of Mongo with the various moons. Ming had eventually faced Flash Gordon and Dale Arden.

Ming had apparently died. Flash and Dale had gotten married and returned to Earth. Ming eventually had the most diabolical revenge ever. He had survived and eventually took power again. Living well was the best revenge.

Ming had finally died back in 1962, sometime after exiling one of his daughters to the very same Earth as Flash and Dale. This was part of a Sinister Plan. After all, if Earth could produce such an exceptional warrior as Flash - then it could also be the ideal environment for one of his own sons to be raised to become a great warrior. Ming's death had actually been quite ironic. After all his faked deaths, last minute escapes, and the dangers he'd faced all his life to unite the moons and world of Mongo under his rule - he'd choked to death on a piece of asparagus while dining.

Not that Dale and Flash did much better. They had escaped the press by coming to Japan under an assumed name only to find that Ming had paid for them to be cursed to never find their way back to Mongo. The sorcerer had done such a good job that they couldn't find anything at all after that and spent most of their lives wandering around lost.

Ming The Merciless, Feared Warlord of Mongo, had been replaced by a surviving son. Wang The Mildly Cross. Wang's rule of Mongo was actually not that bad for the various Moons. As long as they were united under the Emperor's rule they weren't fighting each other and actually didn't have much problem. Wang The Mildly Cross had inherited Ming's tactical genius but had mainly been interested in mixing technology and magic together in feats of great engineering. The robot-golem project had developed the Iron Legion, the Steel Cavalry, and the Wooden Brigade - his most successful project and one that provided for his few successes.

Wang The Mildly Cross had assumed the rule of Mongo from 1962 to 1984 and had provided twenty-two years of relative peace and security.

Unfortunately, one of the groups - the Eagle Men - decided enough was enough and to go to war. When Wang had come to see if he could negotiate a peaceful solution, egged on by many of the more peaceful folk of his council, he had been killed and his body put on display.

Wang had been twelve when he assumed the position of Emperor. His successor, Yan The Terror, was forty-three when he had assumed the throne.

Yan The Terror had proven his name when he decimated the tribes of the Eagle Men down to less than a hundred using Wang's robot soldiers. Yan took after Ming and ruled with an iron fist. He held the belief that Wang was killed for being weak, only the ruthless could hold onto power, and he was determined to do just that.

Yan's rule had abruptly been cut off by a small bomb. Mongo had a new enemy, and nobody who could really fill Ming's shoes. Heck, they couldn't find someone to fill Wang's shoes. By the time the scuffles for power had ended, it was clear that the only thing this was accomplishing was that the number of councillors and generals had shrunk considerably - and the enemy was beginning to make inroads on one of the Moons. Worse, the robot soldiers would only obey the orders of the Emperor - and there was still no Emperor.

There was another Emperor, briefly - he lasted two months, but the less said about the ecchi mad scientist who had gotten screwed over (literally) by his own contribution to the robot soldiers, the better.

Which was when somebody had gotten the bright idea about Ming's exiled daughter and the plan to have an Exceptional Warrior.

All of which had brought one Ranma Saotome to a world called Mongo.

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Take my daughter, please.  

by Greyman

Ranma was getting the hang of being Emperor of Mongo.  Mostly it was just a matter of giving commands for the central computers to get the robot soldiers back to combat readiness and delegating the less important details, like everything else, to underlings.  This left him with plenty of time to kick back and practice in the Arena of Death with the strange pets his predecessors had kept.

The downside to being Emperor was that he was expected to perform a few ceremonial duties.  It was boring, but Ranma guessed it was expected and the crowds certainly seemed to get a thrill seeing their new Emperor on parade and his ego certainly enjoyed the attention.

Listening to those cheers certainly made a nice change from hearing, "Prepare to Die, Ranma!"

Then came the time to accept meet his feudal lords as they arrived from the Empire's diverse kingdoms to swear fealty.  Impressed that this was a serious matter, Ranma decided to stand tall and regal and keep his mouth shut.  Besides, he didn’t want to make a fool of himself while his mother was watching.

"Presenting," the seneschal announced as the first such delegation made its way through the corridors, "King Thong of the Lion Men!"

Ranma stiffened as the delegates approached, but it wasn't as bad as he feared.  The delegates bore only a little more of a resemblance to the little terrors than Mint of the Musk.  Ranma was able to quash the impulse and face the cat man.

Thong bared his teeth as he considered the puny Emperor before him but, as their eyes locked in mutual assessment, Thong was surprised to find the initial scent of fear replaced by growing confidence.  Lion men were proud, courageous warriors who respected only personal strength, but Thong decided that while the boy emperor might be a young cub he had the aura of an experienced warrior.

Mindful of the guard bots and the blasters trained on him, Thong suppressed the urge to roar out a challenge in instinctive response to the cubs arrogant stance.  Instead he forced himself to bow in supplication.  "Your Imperial Highness, the Lion Men stand ready to serve the Empire.  As proof of our loyalty, I bring tribute from my poor kingdom and present the service of my daughter, Leona, for your pleasure."

Ranma blinked as the empty words he was supposed to utter in response fled from his mind.  Instead, 'c-ca-cat g-g-rrrl' echoed in the silence of his mind.

"Do you not find her acceptable?" Thong bristled.

Ranma snapped out of his daze.  "I don't get it, you're giving me your daughter?"  Somehow he had a very bad feeling about that.  He cast a nervous glance over the girl.  Once he got past the tawny fur and slightly feline features he realised the muscular, leather-clad girl was obviously a candidate for a palace guard job, right down to the strange taste they had in ceremonial uniforms on Mongo.  He sighed in relief, "oh, right, for that seraglio thing!  I'm sure she'll fit in fine.  Sorry, I'm kinda new to this.  Uh… I'm supposed to say something fancy to welcome you aboard but it slipped my mind.  So, uh, good to have you on our side."

Thong roared.  Ranma relaxed as he realised that it was relaxed laughter.  "Hah!  You speak plainly.  I like that, boy."

The rest of the day's meetings went a little smoother as Ranma got into the swing of things and became used to being introduced to princesses applying for a palace job.  He guessed that it was some sort of prestige position and decided it would be best not to reject any, though some seemed a little soft.  At least that gal in leather armour and high heels assured him they'd all be properly trained and conditioned before being presented for service, or servicing as she put it.

Finding all that diplomacy stuff to be exhausting, Ranma decided to retire to his palatial quarters without spending time the Arena of Death training area.  Meanwhile Nodoka and "that gal in leather armor and high heels" put their heads together to decide what to do to with Leona and the other princess brides.

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Alien Abduction = Frustrated Fiancees  
by Kestral

Nodoka inspected the seraglio. A most exotic group of women for her son to be manly with. "What a pity that some of his old girlfriends could not be included."

There was one among the Generals that had done well during the two month stretch of that more ecchi of the Emperors of Mongo. With her spike heels, leather outfit, and the whip at her side, she looked a lot like Jura from "Vandread" but with a far crueler edge. This was the mad (she's mad, mad I tell you!) psychologist General Mille.

"Why not?" said the General, her high heels rapping against the tiled floor as she inspected the machines. She had decided she liked this new Emperor. Not only could she train and condition them, but she was being allowed to bring her full creativity to bear.

"They would never go for such an arrangement," said Nodoka with an unhappy sigh.

Mille's smile would have sent any of said fiancees scurrying for cover had they been present to see. "Let me worry about that."

Aliens had appeared in Nerima and kidnapped some boy. It was all over the news. Pictures of the thing had been on international news.

A real life alien abduction! And this time it hadn't happened out on some farm but in a big city!

Ami blinked at the TV screen as she realized that "Math Masters" had been pre-empted.

A girl was on the screen, dabbing at suspiciously dry eyes. 

GIRL: "Yes. I was there. It was horrible. Terrible. These alien beings just beamed down and captured Ranma and beamed back up. I... I can hardly tell you how upset and frightened I am."  
REPORTER: "And yet you have a book deal in the works, Miss Tendo?"  
GIRL: "Girl's got to make a living. By the way, can I interest you in a Souvenir 'Soun Tendo Bobble Doll' or an 'I Visited The Alien Abduction Site' souvenir t-shirt?"  
REPORTER: "That was the spokeswoman for the Tendo Dojo. Asking others around the Furinkan Ward brought different responses."  
DERANGED LOOKING BOY: "The foul sorcerer hath departed this plane and good riddance. They who consort with demons shall fall to them eventually. Yet now I must be off to comfort the tidy Akane and the healthy pigtailed girl now that the Sorcerer's influence be undone!"  
ANOTHER DERANGED LOOKING BOY, WITH FANGS: "That coward! Just as I'm about to demonstrate my new secret technique and defeat him once and for all - he gets kidnapped by aliens! Come back here, Ranma! I won't let you get away that easily!"  
YET ANOTHER DERANGED LOOKING BOY: "Hahahahahahahahaha! At last I can have my Shampoo! That spell worked! Ahahahahahahaha!"  
A SLIGHTLY MORE NORMAL LOOKING BOY: "It was bound to happen. What with being engaged to a lesbian sadist like Akane, chased by that crazy Amazon chick, and having that transsexual chef after him, his life got so crazy he tore a hole in reality. Inevitable."  
SOMEWHAT CRAZY LOOKING GIRL: "It was the plot of that foul harridan, Akane Tendo, I know it! Do not worry, Ranma-sama, I shall avenge you!"  
REPORTER: "As you can see, reaction is mixed. We now go to our expert in the field, Doctor Sanada. Doctor Sanada, do you buy Doctor Schtalbaum's theory of mass hallucination and sunspot activity?"  
DOCTOR SANADA: "Doctor Schtalbaum is a weenie. Ten thousand people do not spontaneously imagine twelve ships in excess of five thousand metric tons displacement hovering in midair over Tokyo. Likewise for sunspot activity."  
REPORTER: "What of Professor Rara's theory of dimensional crossing?"  
DOCTOR SANADA: "What?! That's my theory! RARA, YOU THIEF!"  
REPORTER: "There we have it. Back to the search for a reason for this event after these commercial messages."

Ami clicked the TV off.

Alien invaders? Kidnapping boys? Was this a job for the Sailor Senshi?

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: On The Case 

by Kender

It was a quick assumption, and one that she could pretty sure of. With all of the really odd giant bricks hanging in the sky, it would cause major ripples in the way things would go. When that sort of thing happened, Setsuna would be the one to talk to to find that sort of thing out.

So Ami decided that a call to the Outers would be the best way to get any information they might have. They might not want to share it, but there was always the chance that she might get a tidbit or two, more if things were this major.

What she got was what she didn't expect. "You're going to do what?"

*"We're heading over to where those ships are and checking them out,"* Haruka replied.

"What if they are hostile?"

*"It looks like they are, but we'll handle them."*

"Don't you think that it'd be best if we all get together to face them?"

*"No. We can deal with this, and when we get back, we'll tell you all about it."*

"I suppose that there is nothing that I can say that can change your mind."

*"Not that I can think of."*

"Uh... good luck then."

*"Thanks. See ya."* *Click*

It seemed that the Outers were planning on taking care of the situation all by themselves. As she hung up the phone, she tried to figure out what that shiver that went down her spine was.

_____

Private Wedge frowned as he looked towards his commander. "How are we supposed to do this anyway?"

Sighing, Major Biggs tried to explain to his subordinate their orders again. "We have this list, right?"

"Yeah..."

"We go over it and try to find the girls on it. When we do, we send them to the ship. It's that simple."

"Oh! I see!"

"I hope you finally do."

"So you're the ones who are kidnapped people!" called out a voice.

"Who's that?"

"Invited by a new age, I'm the magnificent Sailor Uranus!" called out a blonde girl.

Next to her, a sea-green haired girl called out. "Invited by a new age, I'm the elegant Sailor Neptune!"

Then came out a tanned woman. "I am Sailor Pluto."

"I am Sailor Saturn!" chimed in a raven-haired girl.

"What are you supposed to be?" asked Biggs.

"We are Sailor Senshi!"

"Hey aren't those the names of some of the planets in this solar system?" mentioned Wedge.

"Yeah, so?"

"Think that maybe they're princesses."

"On this world, anything's possible."

"We could always include them."

"Maybe."

"The blonde one has nice legs," offered Wedge as Uranus sputtered.

"True, but it is not our place to ogle them."

"Hey, the one with the wavy green hair is pretty."

"I can see that."

"The tall one with the tan is good looking too, even if she seems a bit stiff."

"That is not the question," the commanding officer told him as Pluto mouthed 'stiff'.

"And even the younger one is cute." *WHAP!* "Hey, why'd you hit me?"

"Because we have a job to do and we don't have time to gape at potential members."

"Oh yeah."

"I wonder about you sometimes."

Uranus just glared at the pair and gritted her teeth 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Mistaken identities    
by Kestral

Biggs and Wedge looked over their list given them by the Imperial Mother.

A fairly cute but tomboyish sort. Short hair. Likes to dress up. Akane Tendo.

Biggs and Wedge looked over at Sailor Uranus and nodded. Okay, that was one.

One with long hair. Carrying a large spatula. Ukyo Kuonji Biggs and Wedge looked at the tanned one carrying the long key shaped staff. That could be whatever a spatula was.

One fairly aristocratic girl, though she has an annoying laugh. Kodachi Kuno. Biggs and Wedge looked at the girl with the green hair. She kinda fit the "aristocrat" image.

Three of four matched.

"You're with them, right?" Biggs asked the cute kid with the sharp looking pole weapon.

Saturn nodded, curious as to what was going on.

Biggs and Wedge smiled. "Great!" Wedge said. "So you want to go visit the Emperor?"

"You're taking us to your leader?" Uranus asked, astounded. No having to wade through armies of servitors to get to the Dark Lord or whatever? Just show up and he'll see you now?

"Yes. Yes. Uhm, pardon me, but you. The young extremely cute one. What did you say your name is?" Biggs asked Miss Polearm. Certainly it fit what they'd overheard of the new Emperor. He liked girls who knew how to fight and was putting his seraglio to work as palace guards. Very efficient.

"Ho... I mean Sailor Saturn."

"Saturn..." said Biggs, making a show of checking his paper. While there wasn't an entry for a Saturn, he didn't want anyone to think he'd screwed up and forgotten to write down a fiancee! "Ah! Here we are. Yes, a Miss Sailor Saturn! We were sent to pick you up. If you'll all take a seat in the lounge, we'll get underway. I'll bring menus by in a few minutes since we're coming up on mid morning lunch time. I'd suggest the cheese-potato wedges. Very filling, good ballast."

Saturn nodded. She was getting a bit hungry.

The others stared as they were led into what looked like a Victorian study.

Uranus and Neptune waited for an attack. Saturn tried the potato wedges and proclaimed them quite tasty. She also managed to finagle a souvenir oil lamp out of Biggs. Pluto merely grumbled about how in her day alien menaces didn't serve tea and biscuits. It didn't keep her from having the two, but she grumbled about it.

 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: The Model of a Modern Magical General.     
by Greyman

The Outers looked up alertly as the door swished open and a woman entered escorted by two droids.  The droids had been based on Ranma's sketches for samurai robots, but the Central Defence Computer had interpreted his designs to give them a decidedly insectile appearance.  The Outers dismissed these heavily armed guards as typical servitor drones that would go down after a few weak blasts.  They decided immediately that the woman was obviously the most dangerous one in any battle, dressed as she was in an impractical, sexy, leather outfit.

Her legs were encased in thigh-length high-heeled latex boots that seemed to have been poured onto her long legs and moulded into place.  The black leather jacket over a matching basque corset, near-crotch-revealing short hot-pants, and silver-trimmed, high-peaked cap made her seem to anyone else to be a bizarre fetishist's cross between a neo-nazi biker bitch and a bondage queen dominatrix.  However, to the Outers she looked every inch a model of a modern magical general.

"Greetings Princesses of the Earth System, I am General Mille, at your service."  She snapped her arm across her breasts in her version of a crisp military salute and devoured the women before her with hungry eyes.  Three of them, even the butch blonde, were proof that her young Emperor had excellent tastes.  The child was unexpectedly young, but the weapon confirmed for her that Ranma wanted his seraglio to double as bodyguards and Mille made a note that training them young was acceptable.  It was the costumes that caught her eye.  Were they the latest Earth fashion or uniforms of some kind?  She hadn't thought of uniforms and wondered if perhaps she should copy the design.

"I trust that you've all had a pleasant journey?" she enquired in a pleasant tone.  "If there are any complaints those responsible will be dealt with."

Setsuna pushed aside the tea service and rose to her feet.  "It was remarkably relaxing," she noted in passing, wondering when the other boot was going to drop.

"Excellent," Mille exclaimed with a touch of disappointment as happy princesses meant no one to discipline.  "Ah well, then I expect that you are eager to get underway.  After all, the sooner we get started the sooner you can be presented to the Emperor!"

 

"Then by all means let's go!" Haruka commented with eager nervousness.  Not having to wade through increasingly powerful minions was a disturbingly new development but certainly saved time and hassle.  "Please lead us to him."

"Please walk this way!" Hentai General Mille chimed as she lead them to the airlock.

"I wish I could," Michiru muttered as she enviously watched the General sashay along the corridors.

"Uh huh," Haruka agreed and tried not to drool.

"Welcome to Cloud City!" General Mille announced as the lock hinged outward to form a ramp.

The Outers gaped as they absorbed the vista.  Cloud City was well named as it was a citadel hovering above the clouds of Mongo.  A large citadel.  Fleets of shuttlecraft of alien design patrolled the sky around the city, as did smaller vehicles and the occasional humanoid figure on wing or jet pack.  The docking platform was connected to the city proper by a bridge lined with an honor guard of samurai drone droids in two long, straight lines all bristling with an assortment of medieval and futuristic weapons.

Not having to wade through the enemy's minions was starting to look like a very pleasant alternative indeed.

"If I may ask," Michiru asked nervously, "how many of these droids do you have?"

"Gosh, I don't know the exact number," Mille exclaimed.  "The factories have been churning out the new models ever since the new Emperor took charge.  However, I expect he will soon have an unstoppable invasion force to lead!  Isn't it fantastic!"

"Oh, it's just wonderful!" Haruka muttered darkly.


	3. Outers play nice

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: So you're actually an alien prince raised on Earth?   
by Kestral

Sailor Pluto sat back in the recliner. "So you see our concern?"

"I have absolutely no desire to go invading Earth," said Ranma quite honestly. "Heck. I didn't even know I was some kinda alien prince until a few days ago."

"An alien prince born and raised on Earth who discovers the Truth in his teenage years? It happens more often than you'd think," Pluto assured the boy.

"So we don't get to kill him?" Uranus sounded disappointed.

Sailor Pluto rolled her eyes, ending with a heavenward look and silent plea for endurance.

"And would you stop doing that?" Uranus complained.

Sailor Saturn glanced over briefly at Ranma and her "parents" before returning to her conversation with her newest friend. "Wow. So what do they call this game again?"

"They call it Emperor IV. Oooh! Good move. You convinced the Rastafarians that the Communists had stolen their Organic Resources and they're now at war. You'll be able to take them both over when they're weakened." The ghostly looking being nodded in appreciation. "How did you know to do that?"

"It's kind of like the clique politics in Middle School," explained Hotaru.

"Ah. By the way, if you keep looking at Emperor Ranma like that, he'll notice," said the hologram.

"Eeep!" Hotaru suddenly found the game even more fascinating.

"You know," said the hologram, "he's available. From what I understand you're a princess. Forming a link between your kingdom and his would potentially benefit both."

Hotaru considered fainting.

Setsuna overhears and gets ideas. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Horses And Fireflies   
by Kender

Over where she had been talking with Ranma, Setsuna had overheard Hotaru's little conversation. And seen the slight blush that the Senshi of Saturn had when she had been caught looking at the young Emperor. Both of which spoke of the younger girl's interest in the boy. Which proceeded to begin to turn the cogs in her head.

If Hotaru were interested in Ranma, and he wound up interested in her, then they could set up some kind of relationship. In that way, several things could be dealt with all at once.

First off, it would give the young Senshi a chance to have a guy who wouldn't be frightened off by the weirdness in their lives, and the powers that she had. Hotaru could be treated as an attractive young girl who would be very nice to be with, which she was.

As an added bonus, it would set things up so that they would have relations with a foreign power that didn't want to invade. Each of the enemies that they had faced, from the Dark Kingdom on, had attacked them first. But with this Empire, they'd be able to get to have relations with and make sure that they were good ones from the beginning. And if they played their cards right, they'd have an ally if some other enemy came along.

A political marriage would do that, but it would best for all those around if the pair to be wed actually liked each other before hand. Though, she would never push Hotaru into a simply political arrangement. This just gave he more choices and allowed her to help the girl be happy at the same time.

None of this showed up on her face while she was thinking, and she made sure that none of those with her noticed her considerations. It would take quite a bit of meddling, but she thought that she might be able to get the two of them headed fairly far into being together. Just a little leading conversation here, and a bit of information dropping there, and things would start to fall right into place.

"So... what is the life like around here?" the Senshi of Time asked idly.

"Huh?"

"You know. Festivals... Foods... Weddings... That sort of thing."

"Well... I uh..."

"Take your time. We have plenty of it, after all," she soothed while: 

 

Setsuna worked out her plans in her head. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Interview with a vampire... waitress?   
by Kestral

Setsuna smirked as the four of them prepared to meet with the evil Emperor again at dinner.

"He has absolutely no idea what a seraglio is," said Haruka to herself. "How can a guy be that ignorant about things like that?"

"From what I understand, he's spent a lot of time being pulled from school to school - and more time out of school than in it," said Michiru demurely.

"He seems like a nice Emperor," observed Hotaru uncertainly, not knowing what a seraglio was either.

"Yes," agreed Setsuna. "However he should have an advisor around. Someone who isn't connected to the power cliques that are in place. Someone who can also keep an eye on him to see that he remains friendly to our kingdom."

Haruka scowled as she went through a selection of formal court gowns before deciding on a leather outfit that had bronze plates sewn on. Particularly with the reinforced knuckles. Now THIS she could wear. "I don't know when I'd have the time."

"Someone who understands subtlety," said Setsuna quietly.

Michiru frowned. Time away from her concert schedule?

A gentle rap on the door broke the mood of conspiracy. What entered had two of the Senshi reaching for transformation pens.

Mongo had developed a number of worlds and moons since Ming's days. They had also seen a few refugees from other wars held elsewhere in the galaxy and a few people who were just quite simply lost. The creature entering was tall, pale, red eyed, fanged, and a skimpily dressed very quite obviously female mammal.

"Good evening," said the woman in what sounded like a thick Bavarian accent. "Dinner vill be serveid... shortly."

"What or who is on the menu?" Haruka asked, the appearance of a vampire having awakened earlier concerns.

"Ve have four selections available... if you vill indicate vhich of these... vill be acceptable?" The vampiress held up a clipboard. "Ve has the Brazed Tetrasaur In Almond Sauce... the Roast Duck L'Ming... the Fvuit Savad... and ve has the Barbequed Beetle in Mint."

"You have asthma," noted Hotaru. "That's why you keep gasping for breath."

"Respiratory difficulties," corrected the woman, "I has a respirator."

"Oh," said Michiru. Somehow a vampiress with asthma didn't seem quite the threat. "What do you recommend?"

"My vace ist vegetarian, so the fvuit savad," suggested the woman.

Haruka put her pen away with a disappointed scowl. Asthmatic vegetarian vampires? What was the world coming to?

"Fruit salad," said Hotaru. Neither beetle nor "tetrasaur" sounded particularly appetizing.

"What will the Emperor be having?" Setsuna asked, curious.

"Ve Emperor has a... health appetite," said the waitress. "Probably all of above."

"Fruit salad?" Michiru said questioningly with an eye towards Haruka.

"Duck," said Haruka.

"Tetrasaur tastes like chicken if I recall," mused Setsuna. "It's been awhile."

"Very good," the waitress said with a curtsey. "Ve vill be ready in a half hour. If you need anything elve... please pull on rope."

Waiting for the waitress to leave, the discussion quickly turned to other ideas to use that half hour.

"I think we should mingle with the populace, that way we'll find out if this 'Ranma' is pulling a fast one," suggested Haruka.

"I propose that we see what kind of art they have on hand, it may tell much about Mongolian culture," was Michiru's suggestion.

"..." Hotaru was too embarrassed to suggest going shopping.

Setsuna thought for a moment, then 

seconded Haruka's suggestion. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Taking A Walk   
by Kender

"Actually, Haruka might have something there," commented Setsuna.

The Senshi of Uranus blinked. "I do?"

"Yes, even you can have a good idea once in awhile."

"Well, thanks... HEY!"

Setsuna just smiled while Michiru and Hotaru giggled.

"Oh great, just laugh it up."

"We will."

"But do you think that that would be a good idea?" asked Michiru as Haruka sulked.

"It could not hurt, and it'd give us a sense of how the general feeling of the population is."

"How does that do anything?" asked Hotaru.

"It's simple. No matter how nice the ruler is, unless the people at least respect him, he can never truly run his nation."

"Then we're going to go outside?"

"It seems that way. Let's just tell the maid before we go."

"Okay!"

"This is..," growled Haruka.

Michiru looked at her. "Yes?"

"Absurd! All these potential enemies, and not one of them available to fight!"

"Rather relaxing," observed Setsuna, "isn't it?"

"I'd just like to get the lowdown on this 'Ranma' character is all."

"Oh, are you talking about the Emperor?" asked a voice off to the side.

The Outers turned and saw a human looking couple standing nearby. He was barrel chested and rather tall, while she was shorter and slim.

Setsuna raised an eyebrow. "Can we help you?"

"Well, we couldn't help but overhear you talking. Are you from outside the empire?" asked the woman.

"You might say that," answered Michiru.

"That's wonderful!"

"It is?"

"Oh yes! It has been a while since we have been able to have tourists on Mongo."

"Tourists?"

"We haven't really had many of them, you know. After all, they haven't exactly come... willingly at times."

"Why don't you just call them 'prisoners of war' and be done with it?" grumbled the man.

"Because I was attempting to be diplomatic. My husband is a captain in the military, so things tend to be a bit more cut and dried with him."

"But not for you?" asked Setsuna.

"Of course. I am an architect, and when one has to deal with a customer's demands for perfection in their home, it helps to be able to work with them."

"You seem to be good at it."

"Why thank you. But it does help if one remembers some of our past."

"Oh?"

The man grunted. "A while back we had an Emperor by the name of Ming. VERY nasty man, with a habit of putting the various groups against each other."

"Ah... To keep them too busy fighting each other to become a threat to him."

"Exactly. And when someone decided to do something about him, that person didn't live for very much longer."

"So what happened to him?" asked Haruka.

"Deposed and supposedly by a group lead by some people from Earth."

"People from Earth?"

"Yes. Only they left after they did it, and things didn't stay regular for long."

The Senshi of Time nodded. "Once everything that had held them together had left, they fell to fighting amongst themselves."

"Exactly. Then it turned out that Ming hadn't died, and he came back to take things over again. Only to die a while back after choking on some food."

"Silly way to die," Haruka commented with a snort.

"That may be, but that left it clear for his son Wang to take over."

"Was he as bad?"

"Not at all. He prefered to do everything real peaceful like. Building and adding to the Empire by annexation through treaty."

"What happened to him?"

"Killed by some renegades. And replaced by that madman."

"What?"

"He was just plain vicious through and through."

"What my husband means," explained his wife, "is that the... replacement ruled with an iron fist. He like to be ruthless, and didn't care about what happened to those he ruled."

"He's not still around, is he?"

"Someone blew him up."

"Ah..."

"Aren't you going to get in trouble for talking like that about the former rulers?" inserted Michiru.

"Of course not. With the coming of this new Emperor, things haven't been better!"

"Eh?"

"He's freed political prisoners, visited with the people, and if what's been shown from the Arena of Death is true, he's a strong warrior as well."

"So... you like him."

"It is a bit early, but everything seems to be great. He has large public projects going, the farms are thriving, and he's managed to stay strong without being cruel."

"That's very... nice."

"For us it is. I mean, it has been a while since we have been able to walk freely without worrying about being overheard and reported for some imaginary crime."

"Wish we could say the same," groused Haruka, jerking her thumb behind her, "We have those guys trailing everywhere after us."

The couple looked beyond the foursome, and their eyes widened. "Forgive us, my Lady. We didn't realize your station."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Those are the Emperor's personal guards."

"So he was having us watched."

"Only for your protection. You must be someone of great importance to garner that sort of treatment."

"Uhh..."

"We're going to have dinner with the Emperor!" piped up Hotaru.

"What?! Many apologies, we did not mean any disrespect to such honored guests!"

"You don't have to do that..."

"But... we are only showing the respect that one of your station is due."

"Oh...kay..."

Setsuna hid a smile and decided to rescue the native couple. "We really must be going now. Important date and all."

"Of course..," the man said, and hustled his wife away.

"So everyone, I believe that we have a meal to attend."

The other three Outers nodded and headed back to the Palace, while: 

Haruka attempted to reconcile her assumptions with what she had heard. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Stop and listen   
by Kestral

"...races later today in honor of our foreign guests..."

You could practically see Haruka's ears twitch as she slowed her previous "frustrated stalking forward" to something more along the line of "did someone mention racing?"

Setsuna smirked and slowed her pace so as not to outpace the other Outers.

A small group of Mongolians, wearing fairly simple rugged-looking clothing were speaking among themselves. Loudly enough to carry through, and from the various flasks held in gesticulating hands - they were speaking fairly freely.

"...seen them?" A sandy haired youth wiped his nose with the back of his hand and blinked owlishly at his companions.

"Yer forgetting' who you're talking to. I've got a cousin who works with General Mille herself!" Another youth, this one with his back to the Outers, proudly proclaimed. "I hadda deliver a bubbly pie from Aunt Sludge to cousin Wedge, I did. Which was when I saws them!"

"So what they look like? I heard they be all graceful and elegant-like. Beautiful princesses from some of them there Earth Kingdoms and they just so attractive they take your breath away," a third youth exclaimed, this guy seeming to be mainly nose sticking out from under a truly ridiculous hat.

Hotaru blushed. Michiru automatically posed with Haruka. Setsuna raised an eyebrow.

"Yer daft," said a fourth, this one looking like some particularly unenlightened Buddha. "What I heard was that they be assassins come here to kill the new Emperor, they look okay - but they're nasty foul insect warriors from some Moon Queen Hive."

Hotaru winced. Michiru and Haruka frowned. Setsuna shook her head.

"Here's the straight up," said the bubbly pie deliverer. "They're led by some scowling pretty-boy type named Ur Asshole."

Haruka made a startled noise and didn't look happy.

"Funny name," said the sandy haired youth. "Though I suppose ours would probably sound odd to them."

"If'n I may continue," said the bubbly pie deliverer. "He's one of those uptight sorts. Probably will cancel the races, seems the sort to have no sense of humor at all. Real hardcase. He's got this gal with the green hair. Probably a secretary. Looks like a real S&M type. And no, Fil, I don't mean Spaghetti and Meatballs. How you got so big eatin' such weird food. Anyhow they got two others wit' em. They've got two soldiers. One looks to be a young cadet type - probably a scholar. You can tell she don't get out inna sun much. The others some real ice queen type. Probably freeze a man solid she would."

Setsuna's mouth quirked at teenage boys being teenage boys. Apparently even on other worlds. Haruka frowned and was all for going over and having a word with the youths for saying she had no sense of humor. Michiru looked thoughtful. Hotaru looked embarrassed.

Setsuna decided to defuse things by gesturing the others to remain back while she approached the knot of youths. Close up she could see (and smell) that her earlier observations were correct. Six youths of approximately Middle School age, with rough hewn but serviceable clothing - most with stains and other signs of wear. "Excuse me, did you say there were going to be races?"

One of the youths looked and seemed to freeze in place. The sandy haired youth just pulled out a book. "Aye. Someone thought'd be good to have a sky chariot race in honor of that foreign delegation visiting. They've still got two slots open, but with 'Crash' Herkimer competing it's a done deal. Best odds I can give ya are 40:1 for anyone else."

"I see," said Setsuna, glad that it wasn't going to be something barbaric.

"Are sky chariots fast?" Haruka asked from her position.

"Yeah they're..." the sandy youth and the others looked towards Haruka and froze. If they didn't recognize the group initially, the sight of the Imperial Guard was enough to indicate they'd overspoken. "Ahhhhh. Run away!"

Setsuna shook her head as the boys scattered. So much for any additional information.

"Dinner is ready, miladiessss," hissed a short reptile in a guard uniform.

"So are sky chariots fast?" Haruka asked the reptile.

 

Dinner with the Emperor. What could go wrong? 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Dinner Date   
by Kender

The Outers entered the lavish room in which they were to have dinner, and gazed around as they did so. Hangings in the royal colors hung on walls that arched up several stories into the air. A relatively small table sat at a balcony that gave a wondrous view of the city beyond. Upon that table sat shining bowls of definite expensiveness that overflowed with appetizers and treats.

Walking across the room with the echoing of their heels being the only sound, they took their seats and looked around. Before them sat a repast that spoke of wealth and importance.

And it seemed that their host was missing.

"Isn't your Emperor supposed to be here?" Michiru asked what seemed to be a majordomo.

"Ah yes," replied the rocky looking fellow in the tidy uniform, "His Majesty was slightly... detained by other matters."

"Like what?"

Just then the doors slid open and Ranma stepped through, hurrying over to the table. "Sorry 'bout that, but I was sparrin' and they know I like ta do it so they sorta forgot ta remind me."

"Oh, you were having fun?" asked Hotaru.

"Yeah, but it's also a good idea ta keep up my skills. So, I take a few practice rounds in the Arena of Death once in awhile."

"'Arena of Death'? That doesn't sound too nice..."

"It ain't like I really kill anyone. Someone else named it, so I got stuck with it. But it does give me someplace ta get some great bouts in."

"So it isn't to the death?"

"Not really. Creature I fought today's gonna get some extra food, special beddin', and plenty a care tonight."

"That's what took up your time, I suppose," commented Setsuna.

"Yeah. I always like a good bout, but it sorta gets easy ta forget now and then."

"But you did manage to show up only a bit later than we did."

"I did. That's good, but what's with her?" Ranma asked, gesturing towards where Haruka was slumped in her seat.

"Oh, her? She's a might put out that they won't allow her to join in on the sky chariot races."

"Huh? Why not?"

The majordomo cleared his throat. "She is to be one of those that the race is in honor of, Your Majesty. It would be most... unseemly if she were to compete as well."

"There ain't any way ta get her in?"

"Not at this moment, no. Unless Your Highness wishes to overrule the committee at this late date."

"It wouldn't be fair ta them either. Hey, I got it! How's about we get her a sky chariot of her own, and that way, we can have all the races that she wants ta compete in."

"Very good, Sire."

Michiru blinked as Haruka straightened out. "You would do that for her?"

"Yeah, why not?"

That rendered the two speechless for a moment, in which the meal was served. Plates with the foods that they had chosen were placed before them, and their goblets filled to the brim with liquid.

As such, the dinner began. During which: 

Haruka began to wonder what was going on. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Haruka's new wheels   
by Kestral

Dinner was interrupted.

"Miss Uranus' sky chariot has been prepared when she is ready to inspect it," said a tall insectile being.

"Oh, gee, uhm, I'm done!" Haruka announced.

Michiru rolled her eyes and muttered something about "tomboys and their toys" in such a soft breath that you'd need superhuman hearing or eavesdropping equipment to pick it up.

Of course, both were trained on her at the moment, so the comment was duly recorded.

The sky chariot turned out to have a certain vague resemblance to a Roman chariot. It had a "cockpit" that was open in the back and a pair of wheels that looked like they could have gone on such a vehicle. That was where the resemblance ended, however.

"It... has a lot of chrome," said Ranma, trying to find something to say.

"Yeah, doesn't it!" said a more enthusiastic Haruka.

"Big engine," was Michiru's tactful comment.

"Yeah, doesn't it!" said a more enthusiastic Haruka.

The Roman-esque "cockpit" comprised about 1/10 of the total space of the sky chariot. Everything else was engine as near as everyone could tell.

"Haruka. You're salivating. That is not... elegant." Michiru pointed out. She half expected Haruka to get some puppy-dog-eye look and ask her...

"Can we keep it?"

Michiru pinched the bridge of her nose. It was going to be a long trip back. And perhaps spend less time around the Inners.

Hotaru looked around, finding her gaze resting on Ranma at frequent intervals, and then jerking her eyes away and looking embarrassed.

Setsuna noticed. So did (in the eavesdropping room) the Imperial Mother - Nodoka.

Nodoka contacts Setsuna about Hotaru's potential "ambassador" status. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Grown Up Talk   
by Kender

Having noticed that there were four rather attractive young ladies coming to visit her son, Nodoka had taken interest in what was happening. All through their visit with him, she had kept an eye on them. Not that she had thought that they were going to do anything really terrible, but because of her own personal reasons. Which had been fulfilled if what she had seen was true.

However, it would still be proper to contact the child's parents or guardians. So, she went looking for them as they were preparing for their trip back to the Earth. Haruka was still going on about her new toy, and Michiru was continuing to listen with her strained smile plastered on her face. But they didn't seem to be in charge, so she didn't think to speak with them. Talking about this particular matter with Hotaru was out of the question, which left only one choice left.

"Pardon me, but may I speak with you?" Nodoka asked the Senshi of Time.

Setsuna turned. "Yes, may I help you?"

"I understand that you were enjoying your time with my son."

"So, you are Ranma's mother."

"That is so."

"Interesting. And you wanted to speak with me because..."

"It seems that you wish to be... friendly with my son."

"That is our intention."

"More for some than others."

"And you mean..."

"That girl there," replied Nodoka with a gesture towards where the Senshi of Saturn was smiling.

"Ah yes, Hotaru. What about her?"

"It seems to me that she likes my son a lot."

"More than just that, as far as I can tell."

"What?"

"Hotaru... has been rather shy and while she does like boys, she hasn't really shown another boy the same... attention that she has for Ranma."

It took quite a bit of control for Nodoka not to start celebrating. That wouldn't be helpful at the moment. Besides, once she finished this discussion, then she could break out the victory fans. "There must be something about my son that she really likes then."

"He does treat her better than many of her contemporaries have. And the fact that he is rather attractive does have its benefits."

"Well then, it seems that she might not mind coming back here again."

"I would think so, but in what manner is the question."

"She could always stop off and visit if she wished."

"Or she could be our Ambassador to the Empire."

"I did think of that, and it wouldn't be a problem. Perhaps she might even wish to become his wife in time."

"She likely wouldn't mind that at all."

"That would be a good thing, don't you think?"

"Oh yes. It would in deed."

"With one of your members here, it would make for rather nice relations, don't you agree?"

"And that way, she would be happy with her role as 'Ambassador'."

"I will have to... investigate this further, you understand."

"Certainly. As will I. We can't just jump into this, you understand."

"Of course not."

"Then I will be in touch."

"As will I."

The two women nodded to each other and turned to go do what they each wanted to with one unintentionally shared thought.

'YES!'

But that was not vocalized while: 

 

Ryouga was discovering places that he really should leave alone. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Ryoga at the gate   
by Kestral

Ryouga wondered where he was. All the signs had pointed to something really big being down this way. He'd figured a new martial arts technique.

Maybe stowing away on that airplane had been a bad idea, but he'd needed to get away from Nerima for a while after Ranma had been kidnapped by aliens.

Now there was this thing.

A menhir arch, something like Stonehenge, but here in this huge cavern beneath the Earth.

Lightning crackling around it. Dim shapes moving beyond it.

Ryouga wasn't sure what it was but it felt wrong somehow.

Still, if the scroll he'd run across was right, there was almost limitless power beyond this gate. Power that would give him victory over Ranma once and for all!

Ryouga struck, shattering the large stone with the odd symbol on it.

On the other side, Somethings awoke.

Setsuna transformed to Sailor Pluto without a word and vanished.

Knowing this was not good, Haruka and Michiru transformed as well, followed by Hotaru a few moments later when she returned from the little girl's room aboard their shuttle.

"This is not good," said Pluto as she returned. "An ancient seal has been breached and evil walks the Earth again."

"I knew that Ranma guy was up to no good," exclaimed Uranus.

"It's not him," said Pluto. "How much do you know of the ancient Earth Kingdom?"

"Nothing other than Endymion was Mamoru's previous incarnation, there was distrust and unrest between the Moon Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom - that was why Beryl was able to capitalize on it and create a war, and the Earth Kingdom didn't fare well in that conflict." Neptune summed up.

"How about Zeus caging the Titans?" asked Pluto.

"Are the two connected?" Neptune asked in reply, suspecting she wasn't going to like the answer.

"Yes. Zeus was actually Endymion's grandfather. The Earth Kingdom spent a large amount of their power containing these powerful beings known as the Titans with one exception that was later recruited by Beryl and sent against Earth. It is because of that expenditure of power that Tuxedo Mask's power level is so low compared to the Senshi. That one they couldn't completely cage was the Invincible Shadow. Someone just let the Titans lose again."

Neptune said something inelegant.

Hotaru stared, surprised Michiru-mama knew language like that.

Pluto added a little more. "The Titans are:" 

something like the Weapons in Final Fantasy VII. Elemental forces of great power that destroy everything in their path." 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Abuses Of Science And Nature   
by Kender

"Hold on a second," said Haruka in disbelief, "Are you telling us that we're supposed to fight something out of a videogame?!"

"No, I said that they were like the Weapons in Final Fantasy 7," answered Setsuna.

Hotaru blinked. "But you play video games?"

"Well..."

"'Cause if you don't, how do you know about them?"

"I... have my ways. And that is not important."

Michiru nodded. "We have to know about these 'Titans' before we have to face them."

"Exactly."

"So, what happened?"

"Back before things had become as your past selves knew them, there was a group of individuals who were experimenting with forces great and powerful."

"Which couldn't have gone well," commented Haruka.

"That is right, unfortunately. These people each had their own reasons, but they all strived to control what they were investigating. They worked long and hard to create ways of channeling that energy into processes that they felt that they control."

"That sounds like what Papa was doing," observed Hotaru.

"And they had run into problems, just as he had, but only their... experiences had resulted in more of a disaster than he had encountered," Setsuna told them.

"How much more?"

"They wanted to create weapons meant to protect them from all possible threats, but wound up slaves to that power. The energies... twisted them and their technologies into things that held little that was still recognizable as what they had been."

Scowling, Haruka crossed her arms over her chest. "Which is why the Earth Kingdom tried to seal them up."

"Precisely. But that would not be an easy task, since they had become superweapons with only mass destruction their only outlet."

"There was no hope of saving those people?" Michiru asked.

"None. There was no way to get close enough to try. Besides, they were so fused with the elemental forces that no one could figure out how to separate them."

"So they just sealed them up?"

"Yes."

"Which left us to deal with the fact that they have gotten out."

"I am afraid so."

"The only question now is how do we deal with this mess," growled Haruka.

The four of them looked at each other in silence. This was not going to be an easy matter. In fact, they knew that they would likely have to call in the Inners on this. But there were other possibilities, and they might have to use them to stop the Titans.

And the first choice that they made was to: 

attempt to see what the Titans were like. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Looking over Hyperion  
by Kestral

"Ahem," said Pluto into the intercom. "Do you have any way of monitoring Earth conditions?"

Wedge walked into the room with what looked like a 1960s television and began hooking it up.

While this was concerning to the four Senshi, the images shown bore out the Senshi of Time's earlier comments.

"They are like the Weapons from Final Fantasy VII," agreed Hotaru.

Michiru and Haruka wondered if maybe they should take a look at this game.

Fully 100 feet tall they stood. The one in the lead had a centauroid reptilian body, four legs with a vaguely humanoid torso atop it, and topped in turn by a vaguely humanoid head. All covered in a thick carapace that could apparently take incoming missiles in stride without flinching.

This was obvious because a hornet's nest worth of modern war machines, courtesy of the Greeks and Romanians were making attacks on the lumbering monsters with less effect than a spring rain might have had.

Armor plating morphed away from an oddly circular mouth.

"Uhm," Haruka said as she gestured towards where a beam of light was emitted from the thing's mouth and it swept through clouds of attack aircraft and left only smoke trails behind as it passed. "Question from the back of the room. That thing has an energy attack?"

"Good. It's only Hyperion, we have a chance," said Pluto.

"Excuse me?" Haruka pointed back at the television. "How much power does that thing have?"

"The beam is essentially a focussed laser, I think it would probably register in the hundred megawatt range. See, it can barely melt one side of a mountain." Pluto indicated the screen. "Good range though. Maybe two or three hundred miles."

"What part of this is good?" Michiru asked.

"It's Hyperion. As long as it goes dark he'll curl up in a little ball and go to sleep. One of the weakest of the Titans."

"That's weak?" Haruka asked.

"If one of them reaches their goal, they'll probably try to awaken Typhon. That would be bad," said Pluto.

"I take it Typhon is worse than Hyperion?" Haruka asked.

"In the Greek myths," mused Michiru, "Typhon was sufficiently terrible that he was contained separate from all the other titans and bound as tightly as he could by Zeus himself."

"Hyperion to Typhon is comparing an anemic puppy to Godzilla," Pluto informed Haruka. "Tuxedo Mask's most powerful, most ultimate level attack is the 'Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber' attack - which is roughly one quarter the power of a 'World Shaking' - yet Earth is a world with life and some of the most powerful mana lines in the solar system. The power that could have raised Tuxedo Mask to the most powerful Senshi in the system is what keeps Typhon slumbering."

Eyes flicked back to the screen. "So," Haruka said after a while. "When we arrive at nightfall with the other Senshi we can take out Hyperion and that will end it?"

"We can hope," said Pluto. "Otherwise as soon as one is dealt with, another will rise to complete the task until all have been dealt with."

time to visit the Inners! 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Inner Talks   
by Kender

"So let me get this straight," Rei said as she leaned back where she sat with the four other Inners and the Moon Cats in her room at the Hikawa Shrine, "Haruka told you that they were going to be going out to deal with the ships?"

Ami nodded. "That's pretty much it."

"And we haven't heard from them since?"

"That is the situation."

"No, that really stinks. Just when we need them, they up and vanish."

Usagi looked concerned. "I hope nothing bad happened to them."

"That's the problem," growled Makoto, "We don't know if they're okay or not."

"And we still have to deal with that," mentioned Minako.

'That' was the giant creature being shown on a special report which was decimating an army that was being sent at it with a massive energy beam. Nothing was happening to it from the number of weapons being shot at it, but it was managing to inflict a great amount of damage just fine. All the attacking armies did was to provide whatever it was with more targets to vaporise.

"Unfortunately, we do not know where it is going, or why," observed Ami, "We do not even know what it is exactly, so fighting it would be... problematic at best."

"And life threatening at worst," muttered Rei. "Hey, could those ships have sent those things?"

"Possibly, but without knowing exactly how, I can't tell you for certain."

"Luna," asked Usagi, "Do you know anything about them?"

"Maybe... you have to remember that I'm not too clear on it, but back in the earliest times of the Moon Kingdom, some people were working on ways to control elemental forces."

"That's good... isn't it?"

"It can be, but for the most part, they tried to master those forces. What happened was some sort of... backlash that created things like them."

"So... has someone tried to recreate them?" asked Makoto.

"They wouldn't have to."

"Huh?"

"They were never destroyed."

"What?!"

"There was never enough power to manage that, only enough to subdue them. That chance was used to bind them and place them what was hoped to be an eternal sleep."

"How'd they do that?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"By my time, it had fallen into rumor and legend, but what was for certain was that it took most of the power of the Earth Kingdom to seal them up."

"And we're supposed to fight them?" asked Rei.

"That is very likely."

Minako groaned. "But can't you give us anything else?"

"Sorry, but the only one who might know would be Setsuna."

"Who's missing. What about you Artemis? ...Artemis? What are you doing?"

The rest of the Senshi in the room turned to look at what the white Moon Cat was doing. He was sitting on his hind paws, and had his front ones with the pads pressed together. Lowly, he was muttering something with great speed and deep insistence.

"... If you would just grant me this, I won't even think of looking at that cute Burmese with the shiny coat from down the street again. I'll give up flirting with the tabby near Minako's school and get down to work..."

While the girls sweatdropped, Luna walked up to him and unsheathed the claws in one of her front paws.

"...And I won't keep on sneaking the snacks... YOWTCH!"

Luna gave a little smile at her handiwork while: 

the discussion continued. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Inner & Outer Workings   
by Kestral

"What's that noise?" Rei asked as some roaring noise increased in volume.

"That's our ride, circling the area," said a familiar voice.

"EEEK! Wheredidyoucomefrom?Don'tdothat!!!" Usagi yelped as she attempted to become one with the ceiling.

"Follow me, we're going aboard a spaceship," said Setsuna simply.

"Ride? Like in those brick things?"

"Those were antigrav transports used by the Teknosians. The Empire itself has those, but prefers their spark-and-smoke trailing engines," said Setsuna. "If you'll come with me I can explain more along the way."

"So it was friendly aliens?" Minako asked.

"We're working on that. It turns out that the kidnapee was actually a prince of that empire being returned to rule over his people," said Setsuna.

"A prince?!" Minako's eyes glittered. "A handsome prince?"

"You might say that," agreed Setsuna.

"I'll bet he's just like my sempai," sighed Makoto predictably.

"No doubt," said Setsuna. "Now if we could be going?"

"A handsome prince?" Minako began frowning. "What's the catch, there's got to be a catch! Possessed by dark kingdom types, evil, married, gay, or he's the type to be a 'damsel in distress' right?"

"He's a martial artist who is in excellent shape, there are schisms and power politics going on but nothing major, he's not gay as far as I know, and he's apparently heir to a fairly powerful empire. NOW can we get started?"

Minako shot her hand up at the same time as Makoto. "DIBS!"

"If I went with speed of hand raising, Ami would have won," noticed Setsuna. "Now are you going to accompany me to the spaceship so that I can brief you on the Titans or are we going to continue to waste time talking about the Emperor?"

The Senshi reluctantly go along with the business thing first. THEN they want details on the Emperor. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Delaying The Inevitable   
by Kender

"So, what you're telling us is that if we get on this ship, we have to deal with those... whatever-they-are?" asked Usagi.

"Essentially, yes," Setsuna told her.

"And we have to do it now?"

"Speed is the key. If we can time it right, we can get to Hyperion when he falls asleep after the sun goes down. Then it should be easier to deal with him then."

"And if we don't stop it now?"

"Hyperion will go unchecked and will be able to reawaken Typhon."

"That would be bad?"

"'Godzilla deciding that Luna was a bug that needed to be squashed' bad."

The reincarnated Moon Princess winced. "Eeep..."

"Then I suppose that we will have no choice but to go," observed Ami with a sigh.

"But we'll still have to know all about this prince!" pronounced Makoto.

"It's very important that we know all these things," agreed Minako.

"Right! Like what foods he likes and the types of movies he likes to go see."

"And blood type. Don't forget blood type!"

"I'll need to know something about him so I can do a fire reading..," murmured Rei.

"I wonder if he'll want to do a double date with me and Mamo-chan," commented Usagi idly.

"I'll see what I can do, but time is of the essence and we must get going," Setsuna told the group as she ushered them out.

"I will need information on this so I can use the Mercury Computer to find weak spots," Ami said.

"If I can, I will give it to you."

"Though..."

"What?"

"Does he play chess? It's very useful for a prince to play the game."

Repressing an uncharacteristic scream, the Time Senshi guided them to the pick up while: 

the Inners were about to get their first view of the ship. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Preparing to meet Hyperion   
by Kestral

The return trip had been in one of the more traditional "smoke and spark" spaceships favored by nearly everyone else other than the Teknosians. The "floating bricks" were seen by most as inelegant and lacking character, but were acknowledged as being much faster and a helluva lot sneakier.

Inside, the cabins were more like a Victorian drawing room than you might come to expect otherwise. The TV showing off more footage of the giant monster rampaging around in gathering gloom.

The usual excitement about a spot of old-fashioned luxury occurred as the Inners discovered the cabin. Though the disaster that was Usagi discovering a full crystal decanter of Mongolian Firewine was not immediately noticed.

The Senshi were, after all was said and done, teenaged girls.

Yes, they were reincarnated princesses of an ancient kingdom, charged with defending Earth in typical sentai fashion against evil supernatural alien beings and did so with luck, pluck, and pure hearts. Big pink ones in fact. Under that though - teenage girls. If they tended to be a bit manic, particularly with Makoto and Minako's attempts to win themselves a True Love (it not being the end of the manga where Minako had renounced the male gender and declared to the Sailor Starlights that she was joining Usagi's harem) - keep in mind that they regularly got their young butts kicked at least initially and they'd died at least once and come close several times. That tends to place a certain franticness or put a bit of "live life to its fullest because you might croak tomorrow and Usagi might not be able to hit Undo with the Ginzuishou" into one's personal affairs.

So when they heard they were facing an enemy that could possibly kill them all, and that there was a studly teenage Emperor running around, which did they want to hear more details on?

"So you've met him, is he handsome?" Minako practically bounced in her seat.

Hotaru colored and nodded.

"Nobody got pictures," lamented Makoto.

"Actually, I've made arrangements for Hotaru to have a suite of rooms at the palace and be the official ambassador to Mongo of the Senshi," said Setsuna, hoping to forestall this.

Minako grinned. Hotaru needed someone older to help her out right? And who better to play the Ambassador then the only Senshi who'd spent a lot of time in another culture besides the Japanese one? That's right - Minako Aino, ambassador!

Makoto frowned thoughtfully. Someone ought to go with Hotaru next time, right? Right! Except that would involve flying wouldn't it? Except this wasn't exactly a plane, was it?

Ami bit gently on her lower lip as she considered. A new world and new technology to study, plus there was a handsome prince there. Clearly Hotaru needed some help as she had no experience being an ambassador.

Rei wondered how she could get Hotaru to take her along on the next trip to Mongo.

"In any case the Titans are all beings of great power. If you're familiar with 'Final Fantasy VII' they are similar to the planetary Weapons in that game," Setsuna began explaining.

"You play video games?!" Minako asked, aghast.

"Actually I do some work for Squaresoft," said Setsuna. "Playtesting and costume design. I have a lot of time at the Gates of Time you know. Now if I may?"

Everyone was too much in shock to bring out any objections.

"Fine," continued Setsuna. "Each of the Giant Monsters is the result of elemental energies and mutation. Hyperion is solar, so his powers are light based and he is dependent on solar radiation for much of his power. He hibernates when it is dark. Typhon is another case altogether and not something you want to think about. If we have to fight Typhon we might end up destroying the planet in the struggle simply because of the amount of power required for a magical battle of that sort. It would take Usagi using the Crystal with all of our help."

"Oh dear," said Usagi, drinking some more of this tasty fruit drink even if it did leave a fiery trail down her throat.

"So where is Typhon imprisoned?" Ami asked, plotting out Hyperion's trail.

"Somewhere in the Mediterranean." Setsuna let out a breath. "When the Titans were imprisoned, Gibraltar was still blocking off the ocean and there was a Basin where there is a Sea now. The Minos Caldera had not yet exploded. The area has had numerous earthquakes. Things have changed quite a lot since then."

"On these other Titans, are they similar to the Greek myths?" Ami asked as she brought up files.

"Yes and no. Some are human sized, most are much larger. They are beings of Elemental force." Setsuna went into thought. "I'd have to see one at this point, it has been quite some time since the subject came up. Some embody forces like gravity or concepts like hindsight."

The intercom crackled to life. "Honored friends of our Emperor. We have arrived."

The Senshi wait until after nightfall. Usagi continues to sip at the "fruit juice." 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Waiting For Night   
by Kender

"We're here?" asked Minako nervously.

"That's what the man said," replied Rei.

"Which means that we're supposed to go fight that...thing," hesitantly observed Makoto.

"Yes, we do," agreed Setsuna.

"So we have to go to face them, right?"

"No, we don't."

"Huh?"

"It's not sundown yet."

"But we can attack it now," said Haruka.

"We could physically do that," said the Time Senshi with a shrug, "Though it would be a problem."

"Why is that?"

"It' d be difficult to fight him, and he does have what amounts to a giant laser cannon. We could wait until he's hibernating and strike then, but if you insist on it, you could try and avoid the blasts."

"On second thought, maybe waiting would be the better part of valor."

Makoto nodded. "It would be better wouldn't it?"

"That would be tactically sound," commented Ami.

"So we just wait here until the time is right," put in Minako, "Works for me."

"It'll give me time to have some more of the drinks they have here," commented Usagi.

Up in the pilot's compartment, Wedge turned to Biggs. "So we have to stick around here?"

"Seems that way," the major replied.

"Going to be boring."

"We're soldiers. We're supposed to wait for our commanders."

"Yeah, but it sounds like that one girl wants some more firewine."

"She drinks enough of it."

"Yeah, but what does that say about her?"

"It means that either she has a head for alcohol, or is the biggest lush that I've ever seen."

"But what would a person from this planet know about firewine?"

"If she doesn't know about it..."

"Yeah?"

"She's going to be in big trouble later."

"Oh..."

A little while later, the last rays of the sun were disappearing, and the night was coming on. Those in the ship knew it, since it was what they had been waiting for. Now that it had, they had a job to do.

"It's time to take care of Hyperion," Setsuna told them.

"Great..," muttered Rei.

"So, let's get going," said Haruka.

The Senshi of Pluto nodded, and they turned to go, heading out to do battle: 

only to they stop once they realized what Usagi had been drinking. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Usagi's blood alcohol level   
by Kestral

The Sailor Senshi prepared to do battle with their foe.

Who was currently curled up and asleep but as he was several hundred feet tall, armored, and with a laser breath weapon - that was perfectly fine with the Senshi.

"Mooooon Crystal Powder Puff Girl Making Out!"

With one exception.

Everyone stared at where Usagi Tsukino was staggering out of the hatchway and it looked like her legs were ready to go off in different directions altogether.

"Usagi?" Sailor Mars asked just before Sailor Moon used the convenient vertical surface (the one in the red skirt) to hold herself upright. "USAGI!"

"Rei-chan so meanie. Weanie. Eeenie miniie moe." Usagi kissed Rei on the lips and staggered off again. "Let's dust this monster! Anybody got a feather duster or something?"

"Gik!" Sailor Mars managed.

"She's drunk," realized Mercury as she scanned her princess. "Oh my goodness, she's got a blood alcohol level of 0.25%! I'm surprised she's not in a coma."

"Thish'll just take a minute," Usagi confided to the sleeping giant monster.

"Grkk," managed Sailor Mars.

"Moon Power Maid Up!" (Transform!)

Several eyes got very wide at the resulting uniform.

"How can she walk, that drunk, and in high heels like that?" Venus asked.

"You haven't told us we had transformations like that," Uranus said to Pluto, wondering how the guardian of time would look in that outfit.

"I didn't know we did," said Pluto, wondering how Usagi had managed it.

"Dustie dusti dusti dustie," said Moon Maid as she applied her feather duster in an unsteady manner to the tip of the giant monster's tail.

"So do you know of a way to sober her up really quickly?" Venus asked Mercury.

"Should we see how much coffee Biggs-san and Wedge-san can prepare?" Mercury asked without much hope.

After a couple of hours, and three pots of coffee, it looks like Sailor Moon is going to be in the ladies room for awhile. The other Senshi assault Hyperion! 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Moon Break   
by Kender

"Okay," asked Mars with her elbow planted on a table and her chin held in her palm, "How many cups has that been?"

"Three pots," answered Jupiter.

"And how long has it been?"

"Three and a half hours," replied Venus.

"So... is it working?"

"Well, to be honest..," began Mercury.

"Oooohhh... I don't feel so good..," moaned Maid Moon.

"... We sort of have a problem."

Mars groaned. "Just what we don't need."

"But it's still going to be dark out for hours, right?" Saturn offered hopefully.

Pluto nodded. "Yes, but the plan had been to use all our powers to make certain that we destroyed Hyperion. But this..."

"My stomach hurts..," whimpered Moon.

"... Wasn't in the plan."

"What do we do now?" asked Uranus.

"There are several possibilities..."

"Which way to the ladies room?" asked the odango blonde with her hands in front of her and her knees pressed together.

"...Like this. First door to your left."

"Thanks!"

As she dashed off, Uranus covered her face with one hand. "I can't believe this..."

"We didn't realize either," observed Neptune.

"I know... How about this? We just go on without her and blast the monster ourselves."

The Time Senshi raised an eyebrow. "You want to take it on without Moon?"

"Yeah. She's... indisposed. And this is one of the weaker ones, right?"

"Yes..."

"So it's possible that we could beat this thing without her."

"That is possible..."

"Then let's get going!" declared the short haired blonde and then led the Senshi out.

"... but then it's also possible that giant flying frogs will discover the planet as well," Pluto said with a sigh and followed the others to where Hyperion was sleeping.

"Okay... Let's get him!"

The available Senshi lined up next to the slumbering giant, and as one, they called up their various powers. Calling out their attacks, they all sent them at one point. From that barrage, a massive explosion occurred, clouding the sights of whomever was there watching.

When the dust and debris cleared, 

 

it was still there, but in a very damaged state. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Senshi power   
by Kestral

Sun Tzu put it a lot more poetically, but if you attack when your forces are at your strongest and your opponent is at its weakest - your opponent is in serious kimchi.

They might not have had Sailor Moon to back them up, but attacking in the dead of night a sleeping Hyperion - they did some serious damage to the Titan.

"Okay, good enough, now let's see what we can do to bury him before the sun gets up." Sailor Pluto started handing out shovels.

"Excuse me?" Neptune looked at the shovel in her hands as if she'd never seen one before.

"Waitaminute, it isn't dead?" Jupiter pointed at where 95+% of the monster was currently missing.

"It will begin regenerating when the sun comes up. You can't kill them, that's why they were imprisoned." Pluto informed the stunned group as she began digging. "With Usagi using the ginzuishou there is a chance she'd have been able to disperse it. There were theories floating about how it might be able to sever the mana threads sufficiently for one to finally die. Otherwise even if you reduce one to the molecular level, they'll eventually come back."

The others stared for a moment before: 

a platoon of Mongolian infantry arrives in the nick of time. Well, to handle the dirty details and transport Hyperion somewhere less habitable than Earth. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Clean Up Crew   
by Kender

While the Senshi looked towards each other while trying to figure out what exactly to do, there was the sound of thrusters came roaring into their ears. Several vessels came over head and then landed a few yards from the one the Senshi had been travelling in.

"What's going on?" asked Mars.

As the doors to the ships clanged open, Jupiter frowned and told her, "Well, looks like we're about to find out."

They stood and waited, ready for anything, as the ships disgorged a lot of people in some sort of armor, and carrying weapons. One in the front marched up to Pluto and saluted.

"Captain Stiener of the Forty-First Platoon of the Mongolian Army, at your service Ma'am!" he barked out.

"At my service?" asked the Senshi of Time.

"Yes, Ma'am! We were sent by the Emperor when he found out that the planet was in danger. He had us to go to help fight off this menace to this planet."

"You're a little late for that..," muttered Uranus.

"Ma'am?"

The short haired blonde gestured to the mass that had once been a complete monster. "We already blasted it."

"I see... What would you have us do then Ma'am?"

"Me? I'd like to see that thing far away and on some dark planet where it wouldn't bother us any more."

"Understood Ma'am," he said and turned to his troops. "You heard the lady, you grunts! Move it! I want this mass of slime and guts ready for transport ASAP! Move it... move it... MOVE IT!"

While the Mongolian troops hurried to prep the regenerating remains of Hyperion, Pluto leaned over to Uranus and whispered. "Don't you just love how they hop to the orders of a lady?"

"Oh shut up," replied the blonde while: 

Hyperion was taken someplace far away... 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: the Pluto Knights?!   
by Kestral

The talk was all over Mongo.

The seraglio was the Emperor's personal guard as well. That was strange but what really got people talking was the foreign princess.

Oh yes, that had gotten around. There were different thoughts on it of course.

General Mille was of the decided opinion that the foreign princess should be added to the seraglio. No special treatment just because she was not a member of the Mongolian aristocracy. The General was researching the readings of the girl's magical aura and was working out ways of bypassing some sort of magical protection field.

The Teknosian forces found the whole thing intriguing, and so while they assisted Mille in her efforts they showed no favoritism and helped everyone with their preparations.

General Grimm, of the Volcanians, was pretty much 180o from Mille. A study of such things in pre-Ming history and Terrestrial history showed that the whole "marry into kingdoms" was a slow but effective way of uniting kingdoms. The planet of Saturn wasn't particularly habitable, but there were some nice resources on its moons and the whole thing had long-term consequences that had appeal to the long-lived race of rock-beings.

The seraglio themselves were divided. Some had been freshly brainwashed and thought the sun rose and set in Ranma's pants, figuratively speaking. Some were actually relieved that the seraglio was being used as a personal guard, as sitting around on silk cushions had absolutely no appeal to them.

Others had other ideas, other plans.

Of which, of course, the Emperor remained happily ignorant of.

"I could get used to this," confessed Venus, leaning back in a recliner as the remains of Hyperion were lashed to the largest of the transports and hauled off.

"Hmmmm," said Jupiter, laying on her side in her own recliner. She had found the Heat/Massage setting and had momentarily been concerned by mechanical hands on telescoping rods, but as they heated up and found knots of tension in her back. "ooooOOOOooooooh. That's nice."

"Are any of these Titans able to move underground?" Mercury asked, her eyes flitting between her Mercury Computer and the large spread of breakfast foods being prepared nearby.

"Yes, actually," admitted Pluto, nibbling on a cinnamon roll.

"I'm getting some readings indicating that something was tunnelling through the ground, and is now stopped 243.45 meters under those hills," said Mercury.

"Captain Stiener," called out Pluto. "There's something under those hills. Can you send a team to check it out?"

"Yes, ma'am!" The captain in the battered silvery armor saluted. "Blutzen! Kohel! Check it out! Laudo! Get those tents ready! These are Princesses, not roughnecks like you lot! Weimer! Stop flirting with that Princess!"

Sailor Mars, not used to tall, muscular, Space Marine types paying attention to her, shot a very dirty look at Captain Stiener.

"Haagen's doing the piloting. Ah! Mullenkedheim! Dojebon! Rig a couple of torpedoes as burrowing depth charges! Have them ready if the lady gives the word! Move it people! If I wanted statuary I'd have gotten Volcanians for this mission! Move it! Move it! Move it!" Stiener nodded in grim faced satisfaction as they got moving and some of the other troops went from gawking at princesses to at least look busy.

Venus took a momentary break from satisfaction, as having a bunch of guys ogle her from a distance had been a change of pace. She also glared at Captain Stiener.

Saturn took a deep breath and went up to one of the soldiers working on an obviously old and patched tent. "Excuse me?"

The soldier saw who it was and immediately leapt into a formal "attention" pose. "MA'AM, YES MA'AM!"

"Uhm, quieter please. I was just wondering, Mister..." Saturn began to get embarrassed and started fiddling with her glaive.

"Private First Class Firstenburg of the Pluto Knights, Ma'am!"

"Yes, Private, well. I was wondering. What can you tell me about the Emperor?" Saturn asked.

The Pluto Knights?! It looks like the Mongolian Army have started selecting favorites and are naming themselves after those whom they'd like to see as the Emperor's co-ruler. Oh dear. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Fan Clubs   
by Kender

"I've been wondering about something," Michiru as she sipped delicately from her cup of tea.

"What is that Ma'am?" asked Steiner.

"You are from outside this solar system, aren't you?"

"We are Ma'am."

"Then why are you named after a planet in ours?"

"We aren't named after them Ma'am."

"But you are called the 'Pluto Knights'?"

"Yes we are Ma'am."

"Then why?"

"We are named after the individual that we would prefer to be the Emperor's co-ruler, Ma'am."

Pluto stopped where she was looking over a tray of food. "Do you mean to say that you want me to be..."

Steiner nodded resolutely."Yes Ma'am!"

"Why would you?"

"You are obviously an intelligent individual who knows all the tricks that are needed to do what must be done Ma'am. And as we think that would be best for the empire, we have chosen to name ourselves after you."

"Hmmm... that's... interesting."

The corner of Neptune's mouth quirked up. "At least now you have your own fan club."

"That's wonderful," Pluto said drolly, "Too bad you don't have one."

"But Ma'am, they do have units named after them," inserted Steiner.

"Excuse me?"

"There's the Neptune group who are more concerned with quiet and calm execution of plans. As for the Saturn group, they'd prefer someone to act as a counterpoint to the Emperor's rough nature. Then there is the Uranus one, and that's mainly made up of hotheads and hard cases who like the direct approach."

Her brow twitching, Uranus plaster on a patently false smile. "Just great... So why not the others?"

"Information about them hasn't gotten back yet, though there was some talk about uniting the two groups by marrying your ruler and ours. But I'm sure that plenty of knowledge will get back if... certain soldiers don't stop gawking at the Princesses and get back to work like they've been ordered to!" Steiner told them, barking the last at a pair of soldiers who'd stopped to appreciate the view.

Said soldiers jumped and dashed off, not wishing to risk their commander's wrath.

As Uranus pinched the bridge of her nose, Pluto kept herself composed and said, "That's good to know. Thank you."

"You're welcome Ma'am!" replied the man in the silver armor while: 

the Senshi dealt with what they had just heard. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Fan clubs   
by Kestral

"So we have fanclubs?" Saturn asked, ignoring the way that several lounge chairs had been scooted closer and closer to where Saturn was discussing things with Firstenburg (PFC, Pluto Knights).

"Well, you do, begging the Princess' pardon," replied the soldier. "They don't know anything about the others yet."

Makoto and Minako immediately began scribbling out "Bio" sheets. Main topic: why they would make a really spiffy Empress.

"And I have my own fanclub?" Saturn asked, wondering what anyone would see in her.

"Yes, Ma'am. The 321st Airborne or the 'Flying Axes' as they used to be called. A real elite group." Firstenburg finished tying off a rope to a stake.

"So, uhm, what can you tell me about the Emperor?" Saturn asked again nicely.

Makoto and Minako handed off their life stories (in 500 words) to Mongolian soldiers who promptly hid the information and took a few pictures.

Rei noticed this and started writing her own, then got a mischievous look and started writing one for Usagi as well.

Ami handed off a printout to one of the soldiers.

"Well, ma'am, he's quite a fighter. I'm told he's a real 'hand's on' and physically oriented fellow. Other than that I've never met him."

"I don't suppose you have any pictures of him?" Saturn asked with a cute blush.

"I don't but I think Private Aversteen does. Hey, Aversteen! Ya got any pictures of the Emperor the Princess could have?"

Aversteen proved to be a catlike woman in the usual Mongolian uniform. She handed a couple of 8x10 glossies to Saturn and was about to collect payment when -

"YOU LOUTS! MOVE IT MOVE IT MOVE IT!"

Saturn didn't budge as the two soldiers went running off. She was busy staring at the photos in her hand.

Zip!

make that in Ami's hands. AMI?!

"Oh my. This is quite improper." Ami stared at the picture, barechested Ranma in the Arena of Death. She had this incredible impulse to play with that pigtail.

Zip!

Minako stared at the two pictures. One the full body barechested shot, the other taken closer and being a head and shoulders shot. "...mine..."

Zip! "Sempai!"

Hyperion is put somewhere else in the solar system that should be safe. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Drop Off   
by Kender

Far out from the Earth, a single ship had flown bearing a cargo of the most dangerous sort. That which it carried had been the Titan known as Hyperion, which had been recently defeated by the Sailor Senshi. Though it had been blasted into an unrecognizable mess, the parts had been regenerating back to full health, which would have returned it back to full health, especially once the sun came up.

Which was why the ship was where it was. Quite a distance from any planet, it sat floating around an asteroid. Upon the rocky object's surface lay Hyperion, its remains pretty much inert from the near complete lack of it's power source.

And near it were a bunch of spacesuited Mongolian troops, drilling giant restraints into the asteroid's surface.

"Remind me just why we have to do this in the first place," asked one soldier.

"It's orders," replied a second.

"I know that!"

A third moved her helmet so the questioner could see her smirk. "What's wrong Spunkman? Worried that it might gobble you up?"

"No, but I'd just like to know what's going on here Vas."

"It's simple. Big guy here lives off of light. We leave it here and the sun's no brighter than the rest of the damned stars. So party boy here gets nothing to eat."

"And we're finished making sure that it won't get free?" asked a new voice.

"Sargent sir! Yes sir!" chorused the trio.

"Good. Then pack up your gear and your wagging tongues so that we can report back to base!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Then let's go!" the sergeant yelled while: 

the burrowing Titan was being identified. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: A titan of the earth   
by Kestral

Images were produced and the Senshi quickly gathered.

"Ugly sucker," was Haruka's comment.

"..." Setsuna said on seeing the picture.

"It was difficult to get these," admitted a Pluto Knight as she sold pictures of Ranma at the Emperor's Bath to Minako.

"No actually all we did was bounce sound waves from three sources to get this," corrected a soldier. "It looks kind of like some sort of insect."

"..." Setsuna said as she stared at the picture.

"How big is it?" Makoto asked.

"Nearly a quarter mile," said Ami. "It can't be a true insect, as an insect has an open respiratory and circulatory system. So it merely looks like a quarter-mile long cockroach."

"..." Setsuna continued to stare in a certain fascinated but disgusted manner at the picture. "...hastur..."

"'Hastur'?" Ami repeated, putting the name into her database. "Looks like HP Lovecraft was incorrect in a few details."

"So how do you kill a roach that big?" Makoto asked. "I mean the big one inchers are hard enough."

"Maybe we should contact a company like Raid™ or BuzzBGone™ and get something to spray?" Rei asked, not thrilled with the idea of trying to toast a huge roach. When she zapped the little ones they really stunk.

"Maybe we should just drop those depth charges," suggested one of the Pluto Knights as she sold Ami a set of 8x10s of the Emperor.

Or Ranma for that matter? 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Ruler Decisions   
by Kender

Back on Mongo, Ranma was pacing. Normally he would be out doing things that he liked to do, like getting in a few rounds at the 'Arena of Death', or eating his fill, but at the moment, he was rather concerned. Not out of any duty as Emperor, but with something that had him very concerned indeed.

"So, you're sayin' that these giant monster things are called 'Titans'?"

The beautiful young woman in the Mongolian army uniform nodded. "Yes sir. We have confirmation from Earth."

"We gotta help them."

"Understood, and we did send some soldiers to help them, as you ordered. But the Senshi apparently managed to take out the monster without assistance."

"They didn't need help?"

"Not at the moment," she told him, "But according to the report that we received, there are other creatures, some more powerful than the defeated one."

"Terrific... So, how many of 'em are there?"

"Unknown at this time."

"Who let 'em loose?"

"Also unknown."

"Damn. Which means that we have to make sure they get all the help they need."

"What are your instructions?"

The pigtailed boy frowned for a moment. "We should find out what we can do ta help, and send it as soon as we can. Maybe some of those big robots or something. But we also gotta know what the heck's doin' this."

"Understood. Will that be all?"

"Yeah. Ya can go."

The woman saluted, and marched off, leaving Ranma still pacing while: 

he tried to figure out what else to do. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: A measure of the Emperor's regard   
by Kestral

Ranma was not a genius. Military or otherwise.

He was, however, the Emperor. On finding out that the Emperor was not going to order their heads removed from their bodies if they made suggestions to him, the various Generals agreed he was much better than some of the historical Emperors.

A well trained staff can cover for a lack of intelligence or talent. Each of the Generals was an expert at something, and Ranma could listen to suggestions and decide which sounded good to him.

When he looked at the Mongolian spaceships, weapons, and war machines - he had frowned. This wouldn't do. It wouldn't do at all!

Ranma had grown up in Japan. While his father had tried to keep him focussed 24/7 on martial arts, little boys will do what little boys do and try to bend the rules. He hadn't gotten many but he had gotten his grubby little hands on a few manga over the years. He KNEW what giant robots were supposed to look like, he KNEW what spaceships should look like, and he KNEW that Mongolian Death Tanks looked pretty damn silly with all those spikes and stuff.

If the factories of Teknos couldn't produce what he wanted, well, the Great Will hadn't been removed yet and so those factories WOULD produce proper giant robots damnit!

On his first day as Emperor, he'd figured it was part of the Emperor of A Space Empire thing. There should be giant robots. Mobile suits. The whole enchilada. What did he get? What looked like WWII tanks that had spikes.

On learning that giant monsters threatened Earth, he had publicly been reluctant to do anything about it. Now that the lieutenant had brought up the problem, he had to come up with something.

Now that this Slipe guy was telling what had been produced in his factories, he was a little more enthusiastic about the matter.

"Should we make one for Hotaru? It would probably be a nice gesture as she is the Earthian ambassador," suggested Councilor Slipe, who (as near as Ranma could make out) was the Councilor In Charge Of Closet Space.

"Hotaru was the little girl?" Ranma thought he remembered her. There was the tomboy who liked race cars. The one who seemed kinda cold and stiff. The one that kept commenting on the artwork and junk. Then there was that little girl who seemed to stare at him a lot. "Yeah. Go ahead and give her a nice one."

Councilor Slipe, a weaselly looking fellow (literally) who looked more of a villain than he actually was, and supporter of the Saturn Knights, nodded.

A huge space ship landed shortly thereafter.

"What the hell is THAT?" Sailor Uranus demanded.

"Oh, Princess Uranus," said a weasel-man in formal robes, "we brought your racer."

Uranus smiled as the mostly-engine shape of her sky-chariot was revealed. Her hands clenched repeatedly at the thought of trying it out on the way home. "What kind of speed does it get again?"

"Roughly nine hundred kelekams per horta," said Councilor Slipe. "Oh, is Princess Saturn here?"

The rest of the Senshi gathered as Hotaru was found.

"Princess Saturn," said Slipe, bowing low. "His Imperial Majesty, Ranma the First, has heard of your predicament and has sent you a gift that he hopes you will find of some use in your current struggle against the Forces Of Darkness. He wishes you to consider this a small token of his regard for you."

"Laying it on a bit thick, aren't you?" Neptune asked in a low voice.

"I attend an Imperial Court which in the past has had a number of unpleasantly tempered individuals in charge," said the Councilor in an equally low tone. "Consider it a survival skill."

Neptune nodded, acknowledging the point.

"What did he say?" Saturn asked Mercury.

"He said that the Emperor sent you a gift and he hopes you like it," translated Mercury from Toady to Japanese.

"Oh," said Saturn. "That's nice. Where is it?"

CRUNK! K-CHUNK! Chrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

The Senshi watched as the cargo hauler opened up, followed by some massive form slowly raising in the pre-dawn light. It caused a few gasps from the Senshi as it stepped out of the cradle to stand before them.

"I recognize that," said Venus as she stepped back in shock. Saturn got a giant robot?! She HAD to meet this Emperor!!! "It's..." 

Gundam, is it the original or DeathScythe Gundam? 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Sky Surprise   
by Kender

"It's a Gundam..," commented Venus needlessly.

"It is that," Jupiter agreed.

"Does it meet with your satisfaction?" the Counselor asked the recipient.

She looked to Mercury, who told her, "He wants to know if you like it."

Saturn nodded mutely.

"Then I'll bring your thanks to the Emperor."

"You do that," Pluto said, sounding amused.

Uranus sniffled.

Mars frowned. "Is there something wrong?"

"I... I..."

"Don't tell me that you have a problem with this?"

"It's not that..."

"What is it then?"

"I want one of those!" whined the short haired blonde.

Most of the Senshi just stared. Pluto raised an eyebrow while Neptune rubbed a temple.

"You... want one?" asked Jupiter.

"I've always wanted one!" Uranus told her.

"But what about your 'sky chariot' thing?"

"I want them both!"

"Eh?!"

The Senshi of Neptune sighed and closed her eyes in the manner of the long suffering. "She has just about every series, movie and OAV on video tapes. As well as models and the occasional toy still in its wrapping. When she is not running, or racing, she can be found watching an episode of the show."

"She's a Gundam otaku?!"

"Not an otaku, exactly. More of a fan." The sea-green haired Senshi looked to where her partner was nearly salivating over Saturn's Gundam and frowned. "Perhaps an ardent one at that."

"Maybe I could give it to her?" Saturn suggested.

Hope flared on Uranus' face, but was quickly extinguished. "It's yours..."

"I could always... let you take it for a ride..."

"Would you?! I'd like to have one of my own, but that would be real great too!"

"I guess..."

"You would like one of your own?" the Counselor asked.

Turning to him, Uranus nodded. "I'd really like that."

"Then I'll take your request back with me to the Emperor."

"You will?"

"Of course."

"Thank you!"

From where they were watching the Senshi of Uranus get all sparkly eyed, Jupiter commented to Mars, "I was scared before, but now I'm ready to jump out of my boots."

"Me too," agreed the Senshi of Fire while they watched Uranus look up happily at Saturn's: 

 

Nobel Gundam. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Ai No Bishojo Senshi Robo, Noble Gundam Saturn!   
by Greyman

"Wow!" Minako exclaimed.  "It looks just like Noble Gundam!  Kinda."

"Like what?" Rei enquired.

"It was a Gundam knock off of 'Sailor V' from way backwards," Minako explained.  "Noble Gundam looked a lot like me.  It even had the same hairstyle, though they got the fuku's colour wrong.  This one looks a little more like Dark Nobel.  Well, the colour kinda suits, Hotaru."

"Oh, great!  You already have a movie and a video game based off of you," Rei complained.  "Now you say you have a giant anime robot, too?  Please don't tell Usagi about this."

"Merchandising is not all good," Minako defended.  "At least you guys don't have perverts drooling over hentai doujinshi about you."

"Hmmm, yes," Haruka agreed and whistled innocently.  "Terrible that..."

"What's hentai doujinshi?" Hotaru enquired naively.

"Never you mind," Michiru diverted, "let's try out your giant robot."

"Yah!  How do I get in?"

"That's what the core lander is for," Haruka explained, pointing to the dark purple vehicle behind the giant robot.  It's part simple transportation, part control module which plugs into the back!"

"That's right, Ma'am," Toady explained proudly.  "We kept close to the original design specifications as possible, while customising it for Princess Saturn's colour scheme of course."

Uranus 'casually' pointed out that they were a sentai team. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Follow that sky chariot   
by Kestral

Uranus looked at her sky chariot and then over at Hotaru's Gundam.

Somewhere, deep in the recesses of her brain, a teeny tiny switch was thrown. Ranma was a guy. He was an alien prince. Guys were bad. Aliens were bad. Ranma, however, was okay.

Hmmm. "Uhm, Steiner, was it?"

"Yes, milady," said Steiner, not noticing the wince the Princess' did on that title.

"Emperor Ranma does know that we're a team right? You know 'one for all, all for one' and that sort of... OUCH!"

Neptune withdrew her hand after pinching her lover. "Uranus? Don't be greedy."

"So tell me about these hentai dojinshi," suggested a curious Mars to Venus.

"You don't want to know," Venus assured her partner. "I've found at least three where Mercury does the Senshi."

Mercury nearly dropped her computer on hearing that. Oh dear. Maybe she ought to find a boyfriend soon and put those rumors to rest.

Sailor Moon looked over the sky chariot and took a seat at the controls. She wondered how it worked. There was a steering wheel, three floor petals, but what did this little green orb do?

shhhuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Sailor Moon jabbed repeatedly at the button in an effort to turn it off as Uranus came running towards her.

VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

As the vehicle lifted slightly off the ground and began moving forward slowly, Sailor Uranus leapt towards her chariot and managed to grab a siderail.

zzzzzzzZZZZZZZZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Even as Sailor Moon tried one of the floor pedals, mashing it to the ground.

The attack of Hastur kind of puts the rescue plans on hold. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Bug Problems   
by Kender

"Moon!" yelled Uranus, "Stop this thing!"

The odango haired girl pressed her hands together worryingly. "But I don't know how!"

"How did you get it to start?!"

"I don't know! Hey, maybe if I turn the wheel..!"

"NO! DON'T!" yelled the short haired blonde... just as the reincarnated princess was turning the steering wheel.

On the ground, the Senshi and the soldiers watched as the sky chariot went from a straight out run to circling over head.

"That girl..," muttered Mars.

"This can't be good," commented Mercury.

Venus shrugged. "At least they're still in the air..." The other Senshi just stared at her. "Well, they are..."

*rumble...*

"Did anyone else here that?" asked Jupiter.

Neptune looked at her. "Hear what?"

*Rumble!*

"That," replied the tall brunette.

"What is it?" asked Mars.

*RUMBLE! CRASH!*

As a giant cockroach burst from the ground, the raven haired girl stared at the sight. "Oh... that."

"Pluto!" yelled Mercury, "Hastur is here! How do we fight it?!"

The Senshi of Time stayed silent.

"Pluto! We need to know its weak spots!"

"..."

"This is no time to keep quiet! You need to help us fight it!"

"... but it's Hastur..."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"... it's Hastur..."

"Listen, we have to fight it no matter what its name is."

"Nope. No going near it. Don't like cockroaches. Never have. Like really big ones even less. Not going near it. Not me..."

The Senshi of Ice just stared at Pluto as she continued to babble, while: 

the fight against the newest Titan got underway. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: The Pluto Knights Attack!   
by Kestral

The Senshi were already largely in disarray as Hastur broke through the ground and stood revealed as a 1/2 mile long (with legs fully extended) cockroach.

Usagi was currently piloting Haruka's new racer while Haruka held on for dear life.

"aaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa"

In fact they just went overhead, momentarily drawing the attention of both Hastur and most of the Senshi.

Flying cars, however, were not that uncommon a sight to the Mongolian forces.

Steiner pointed with a glowing blue sword. "All forces. Begin attack!"

The Senshi now had something new to stare at. Most of the Pluto Knights had rifles that spat beams of energy. Some had something akin to mortars. Some had bazooka-like gadgets that fired missiles.

The Mongolian military had been upgraded twice since Ming's days, and was in the process of getting a third upgrade from Ranma who might not be that familiar with high tech combat, but he knew what they were supposed to do and he had his own tastes. Beam-axes had proven very popular and there was currently a waiting list to get the rifle/axe combination from the factory(1). Steiner, as Captain of the Pluto Knights, had a special order on his Excalibur II sword and therefore already had it. His troops favored weapons that looked like Pluto's Time Key Staff but were actually particle beam weapons.

After being hit by repeated energy blasts, missiles, and having the Mongolian Transport (PFC Firstenburg coming up with the idea that as the beastie was as big as a ship - use ship based weapons on it) begin utilizing turret missile launchers on his underbelly, Hastur decided to go underground again.

The 321st Airborne (the Saturn Knights, the former Flying Axes) snapped their fingers in disappointment as they were still 20 AU out from Earth.

"All right you louts! Stop shooting! Stand down but remain alert, I'd expect bugboy to try attacking from below, prepare to board transports and hover at fifteen!" Captain Steiner saluted the gaping Senshi. "Ma'ams. If you would board the transports?"

The ground began fountaining up. SLASH! Hotaru's Gundam sliced off a leg. Hastur went back underground.

The Senshi 

Venus wonders about the possibility of getting her own Gundam unit. Maybe Macross Destroid?  
Someone stops her before she starts singing "Stage Fright" or other Lynn Minmei songs. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Kids And Toys   
by Kender

The Senshi (that were still on the ground) looked at each other. It was obvious from the look they had in their eyes that they were all in agreement. They had all seen the same thing, so their shared conclusion wasn't completely unexpected.

"Um… Steiner?" asked Jupiter.

The captain of the Pluto Knights saluted. "Yes Ma'am?"

"We were thinking…"

"Yes?"

"Can you do that again?"

"That was the general idea, Ma'am. Why do you ask?"

"Because that seems to be the best course of action," replied Mercury.

Mars snorted and muttered under her breath, "Especially since Pluto couldn't give us a straight answer."

Pluto heard that but merely frowned.

"So what is your plan?"

Jupiter smirked. "Shoot it whenever it appears, shoot it some more, and don't stop until it's either beaten or runs away."

"We can work with that."

This was the way to travel in Ranma's opinion. If someone was going to have a spaceship, it had better be a cool one. And if it was a battleship, then it would be best to have a really tough one. Which was great since all he had to do was to ask for one and he got it.

"Uhh…... Your Highness?" asked an officer on the bridge.

Ranma glanced away from the view in front of him to the person who had spoken. "Yeah?"

"I can understand travelling to Earth in such a ship, but why are you dressed that way?"

"Can't be the captain of the ship without dressin' right."

"Well, it does seem to fit."

"Ya got that right," the pigtailed boy told him with a grin as he adjusted his jacket, which looked just like Captain Harlock's.

Venus paused and looked thoughtful as they walked back to the transports. "You know something…"

"What is it?" asked Saturn.

"You know your Gundam?"

"Yeah…"

"I was thinking of how cool it would be to have one of my own!"

"You want one?"

"Of course! Or maybe something from 'Macross'!" declared the Senshi of Love, "If I had one, then I could be like Lynn Minmei and sing while I pilot!"

"But Lynn Minmei wasn't a pilot," Mars pointed out.

"Details, details. But I can just see myself now!" the blonde said as she mimed speaking into a microphone, "Facing the enemy while belting my latest hit… I could start off with 'My Boyfriend Is A Pilot'…"

Reaching around her fellow Senshi as she prepared to sing, Jupiter covered her mouth. "Please, don't."

As Venus pouted, the other Senshi sighed while: 

 

the Saturn Knights showed up. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Beatrix of the Saturn Knights   
by Kestral

In Ming's days the rocket ships had been large finned cylinders with a little doohickey on top that was the main/only gun.

In Wang's days the ships had been upgraded and looked rather Jules Verne-ish. Wang's personal vessel had resembled a fanciful dragonfly. It still did a trail of smoke and sparks, but that drive system had been in place for awhile and was preferred by many of the Mongolian traditionalists.

Yan did away with the drive system for something more dependable and fancied the "every available surface has a weapons port" approach.

The Unnamed Emperor didn't do anything involving the ships.

The interim government had put smoke-and-spark generators on the ships not equipped with the old drive, that way they could have it both ways.

Captain Beatrix didn't like the smoke-and-spark thing, preferring approaches and takeoffs that were like her swordwork - clean and precise.

Her ship, the Savior, resembled some huge (60') hummingbird. and was nearly as maneuverable. She cut a screaming path through the Terran atmosphere and the wing guns sent pulses into the most likely tunnel for Hastur as she came around.

When it was obvious that Steiner had his ships in hover, her reaction was instant.

Hitting the button that sent a little hologram projection of her to the Vindicator. "Steiner. What's the sitrep?"

"What's the outfit?" Steiner asked, gaping at the red bodysuit, flowing cape and long boots.

"The Emperor is coming in an outfit like this, but a male variant. I had someone research and prepare a similar costume to show my solidarity with the new Emperor." Beatrix began to smile a little. "Like it?"

"Oh.. YES! Yes. It... suits you," said Steiner. "Oh ah. The sitrep! Yes. The enemy deemed 'Hastur' is underground. Per the request of our allies, the Senshi, we are following it and shooting whatever sticks out of its tunnel."

"Hello?! Oh, I got it working!"

Beatrix knelt, clenched fist over her heart. "My princess. I am here to deliver an additional war machine and pledge my assistance to you."

Saturn in her Gundam gulped. "What am I supposed to do? This kind of thing hasn't happened before!"

"Accepting would be a good thing," remarked Pluto. "Whose war machine?"

"For you, Princess Pluto," said Beatrix, waiting for Saturn to get over her fidgeting. "The one for Uranus will be next? Where is she?"

"Jaaaaannneeee! Stop this craazy thiiing!" Uranus shouted out as she whipped around in the wind, her hand barely clinging to the handrail as Usagi somehow managed a barrel roll.

"Where's the brakes?!" squealed Usagi.

Uranus had a sudden image of the vehicle coming to a dead stop and herself shooting past it into the distance. A glance down revealed that - gee were those dental floss things roads?! They were awfully high up. "NO! NO BRAKES!"

"So, the Pluto Knights were ready to go, as was the Saturn Gundam. The Pluto mecha was delayed, as were the Saturn Knights, so that's what happened there," said Pluto thoughtfully.

"Exactly," said Beatrix. "I wanted to present the Saturn war machine to her directly, but time was considered essential. No offense but I feel that the cute and nice young Princess of Saturn would bring qualities to the position of Empress that are needed."

Pluto waved it off. "I just don't think that I'm the giant robot pilot type."

Venus held a sign over her head that proclaimed: [Cute & Nice & Single! H] Rei held up her hand and waved it around, as this was the anime and not manga version. Ami raised a hand and blushed. Makoto made a muscle gesture and had this speculative gleam in her eye.

"I see. Would perhaps one of the other princesses deign to use this... minor gift of the Emperor?" Asked Beatrix, knowing how they played this sort of thing at court even if she preferred something more direct and to the point.

Hotaru looked up. There went Haruka-papa overhead again.

"Maybe I should try to stop them?" Hotaru asked aloud.

"I'm getting ready to stop them," said a voice as the second giant robot began snapping cables as it got up from where it had been strapped to Beatrix' ship.

Hotaru recognized the voice and realized that this was: 

Makoto gets ready to go after Uranus in her Gunhead 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Girl And Her Mech   
by Kender

"Makoto's in there?" asked Saturn asked from her Gundam.

Neptune nodded. "Yes, that's her."

"It looks like a walking tank," commented Mercury.

"It looks like a walking arsenal!" corrected Mars.

Venus pouted. "I wanted to pilot it."

"I'm sure that they'll make you something that is more in your… style," soothed Pluto.

"Really?"

"Certainly."

"Yay!"

Rolling her eyes, the Senshi of Ice turned her attention back to the giant robot. "Are you sure that you know how to drive that thing?" she asked Jupiter.

"Piece of cake!" replied the emerald eyed brunette, smirking as she targeted the chariot, "I'll just send a line out and catch them!"

"That's what worries me…"

"Don't be so worried! Nothing can go wrong!" she said as she went to pull the trigger and: 

snagged the chariot on a line. 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: If at first you don't succeed   
by Kestral

Makoto looked over the banks of controls and took charge. This wasn't an airplane, so she could handle it, right?

Okay, she had the sky chariot bracketed, now all she had to do was push Circle, Square, Triangle, Left.

Pshhhh pshhh pshhhh went three contrails as they streaked away from her mecha.

Okay, maybe it was Square Circle, Triangle...

Brraaaaapppppp went the large machine gun.

Maybe this button over here?

Crunk went the hull plating as the giant robot leapt off into space.

"Princess Jupiter," radioed Beatrix, "if you look under the console there's an operator's manual."

"Now she tells me," grumbled Makoto.

"Slow down! Slow down!" yelled Uranus as soon as they got down to where they could breathe again. Oh look. They were going past a city. Uranus glanced behind her. Missiles? "GO FASTER! GO FASTER!"

Hastur was confused.

Each of the Titans had been formed in that long-off age by the weaving of powerful elemental magics as they sought to improve their hand in a sort of magical arms race.

Hastur had been born from Kefke Hastur, a scientist who hadn't really been that important or clever, just another mediocre weapons developer who had been full of patriotism and following the lead of other scientists. His experiment had been with a weave of Earth, Spirit, and Shadow magics. When everything had gone wrong and the chain reaction finished, his transformation had been to the 1/2 mile long cockroach that bore his name.

Hastur was a little better off than Dagon and Cthulhu. He didn't have much of a mind, but there was something there that could be confused.

It knew it had to go THAT way. It knew it had to feed, and that to feed it needed to destroy. It knew that prior to the last time it had been leashed, it had run amok and darn little in the way of bronze spear points or wood and stone weapons could hurt it.

Now however, it was facing a lot of things which could hurt it.

Hastur emerged several times from the ground only to find bits and pieces of his body getting shot away. Followed by a retreat to underground.

Knowing that it needed to remove the painful things, but denied the chance. It could fly, but as soon as it appeared it was stung.

Finally, Hastur realized what it needed to do. Opening a tunnel, it slunk back from the strange fires used against it and opened its ovipositors. The Spawn Of Hastur were quickened and readied before they finally were unleashed in a cloud.

"Urk!" Sailor Pluto said, looking somewhat perturbed.

"What is that?" Sailor Venus asked as the brown cloud began coming out of the tunnel.

Explosions began to put holes in the cloud.

"They're bugs, lots and lots of three foot long flying spiked cockroaches," reported Sailor Mercury who wasn't scared of cockroaches but looked somewhat nauseated all the same.

"Icky," said Sailor Venus, summing it up quite nicely.

"Burning Mandala, Burning Mandala, Burning Mandala!" responded Sailor Mars from where she was seeing the horde heading her way.

Captain Steiner punched a button. "LISTEN UP YOU LOUTS! Stop using beam weapons. Switch to timed missile fire and area effect weapons!"

Makoto waited carefully as the sky chariot came in range again. There!

The line shot out towards the approaching mecha, and then past it.

Twang! Only to get caught on a flange near the controls.

Whip! went the sky chariot past the Gunhead.

Zoom! went the sky chariot in smaller and smaller circles as it orbited the Gunhead at high speeds and the line was slowly wrapped around Makoto's mecha.

Clank! went the sky chariot at it became tangled up with the Gunhead.

"Uh oh," said Makoto, Usagi, and Haruka at the identical same time.

"AAAAAAAAAA!" said Makoto, Usagi, and Haruka at the exact same time as they went into freefall.

"Thumpf!" went the parachutes as automatic systems went to work.

As their "plunge to certain doom" became a "drift down to Bug Central", Haruka turned as best she could to Usagi's position. "My princess. I have sworn to serve you and do everything I can to keep you safe. If you ever do this again, I will spank you so hard that you shall not be able to sit down at cockpit without remembering this even if a thousand years passes."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure I'll remember this," assured Usagi.

 

Ryoga is now an unstoppable juggernaut as the "reward" for freeing the Titans?! 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Returning A Favor   
by Kender

In the time since he had met Ranma Saotome, one of the driving forces in Ryoga Hibiki's life had been to defeat the pigtailed boy. He had followed the other boy from Japan, to a remote region of China and back again. Once he had discovered where his rival was staying, he tried to defeat him once and for all. For that purpose, he had always been on the lookout for things that might give him an edge in a fight.

He had thought that the scroll that he had found would lead him to just such a thing. With the power that it had promised was there, he would put an end to their rivalry once and for all. He had assumed that it would be a power source, a weapon, a new technique or something like that.

What he got was transformation.

From the martial artist that he had been, he was changed into a new form as a 'reward' for freeing that which had been trapped for so long. His body was shifted along new lines until the point where he was no longer the person that he had once been.

In his stead was a: 

massive pig-man beast. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Imperial March   
by Kestral

Ryoga knew it was his fault.

From now on, if evil creatures with glowing eyes offered him vengeance on all who had wronged him, he'd say "no thank you."

It didn't help him now.

He'd seen the image somewhere and one of the Titans had plucked out the memory and used it to rebuild his body. No longer was he Ryoga Hibiki. No longer was he P-chan.

No, he was Pig Iron.

A fifteen foot tall armored pig-man who had tried to sneak his way into Athens and then to a ship. That hadn't gone very well.

Unless you call widespread panic, four demolished buildings, cars stacked up like cords of wood, and their military ricocheting shots off his body a positive development. There was only one thing he could do.

Get revenge on Ranma. Once Ranma was dead, his vengeance would have been completed and he would return to normal.

He hoped.

He also discovered that in addition to having a body of solid iron, if he came into contact with iron then he regenerated from the few things that could actually hurt him or could absorb the mass of the iron and increase his size and strength, he could fire heat beams from his eyes, and that even bombs and mortar fire were minor inconveniences.

He was pretty darn powerful, he had to admit.

How he was supposed to get to Japan like this - now that was something he was a lot less sure of.

Ranma pointed. He'd seen enough giant robot anime (when he could sneak it and nobody else would see) and Captain Harlock's adventures to know that as they were hitting atmosphere what was required. "Cue music!"

"Emperor," said a demure young blue-furred woman in a long black dress even as she hit the button that began playing appropriate music on the ship's sound system. "The Vindicator and Savior, as well as MT-104 and MT-105 are all firing into a set of tunnels in the ground."

Ranma had absolutely no experience with large weapons systems. "Figure out what they're shooting at and blast it into next Tuesday."

"Aye, captain! Emperor. Sir!" The Glacian Gunnery Officer, Kh'ei, on the other hand, knew a few things about her weapons even if she was unsure what to call the Emperor. "Turrets one and two. Sending coordinates. Fire when ready. Belly turret. Wait three seconds and fire. Aft turret. Wait six seconds and fire. Prepare missile tubes one through sixteen."

When the Mongolian factories had produced the Arcadia, they hadn't produced a 100% accurate replica. The galleon at the rear end was not made of wood and glass, for example, but composite armored materials. The choice of flag was a bit odd too - as nobody had understood the whole skull-and-crossbones reference except as a fashion statement.

Since they understood it as such, they'd managed to incorporate the skull and crossbones darn near everywhere on the ship. It decorated everything from the tips of missiles to the Emperor's underwear. It was on doorknobs to the head and on the ship's plates. It was embroidered on napkins and stenciled on dueling swords.

During the construction, someone had thought to ask the Emperor exactly what the meaning was. He had come back with the response of indicating that it was a symbol of tough outlaw patriots who had sailed the terrestrial seas. It therefore became even more popular with the Mongolian Navy who immediately dropped the pink lace garter belts that the Unnamed Emperor had stuck them with to embrace this new symbol.

The turret guns of the anime Arcadia weren't quite understood by the technicians, especially with the Emperor being quite vague, so the technicians went with an experimental weapon of their own.

They weren't quite ready to try unleashing the Atomic Vortex Cannon though they had one almost ready for installation. So they went with gauss weapons. The spheres were steel and roughly 350mm across. When they left the muzzle of the cannon they had attained a speed of roughly Mach 18. These were intended for ship-to-ship combat, and weren't ideal for exterminating large insects.

They made large booms though, so the engineers and technicians rated them a qualified success.

Steiner, for all his faults of being overly serious, of having all the sense of humor of a tuna sandwich, of getting overly excited due to taking things too seriously, had his good points. He was one of the best power-technique swordsmen in the entire Marines division. He understood other weapons and the tactics of using them and when not to use them.

"The Emperor wishes to make a grand entrance," he noted and was just glad that none of his ships were between the Arcadia and the target. "All ships retreat one fifty and prepare to bombard from that distance. Beatrix?"

Beatrix sighed as her Savior was of an old design and the new ship for her forces, the Queen Emeraldas, was still over two months from completion. "We don't have any weapons capable of firing down those tunnels or burrowing new ones to reach the target. What of the Princesses?"

"Not particularly thrilled with the idea of a tunnel hunt," stated Steiner. "One of my men came up with the idea of using missiles around the cloud timed to explode all at the same time so that the pressure waves would crush the swarm from all sides. Corporal Firstenburg."

"That name?" Beatrix thought briefly. "Oh yes. The one who puts his stripes on with velcro to save time between demotions and promotions."

"That's the one," admitted Steiner.

"Well, I'll get the Saturn Knights. We'll have to go into the tunnels and fight it there," said Beatrix regretfully. "Unless someone has a better idea?"

K'hei and Y'uri (Arcadia's gunnery officer and scan operator) suggest using weapons fire to dig a trench from that lake over there to Hastur's tunnels. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Bug Hunt   
by Kender

What most people forgot in the face Setsuna's 'mysterious and secretive' persona, was that she was human being just like everyone else. She had to eat, drink and had her own preferences about things. The difference was that she was a whole lot longer lived than other people. So, she knew a whole lot more than she had let on.

Like the fact that on one of her first journeys through time, she had discovered a world in the far future where she was the only one left. Or rather, the only human being left. The only other form of animal life left on the planet in that time period was something she'd already disliked before: Cockroaches.

Just her and cockroaches. Lots and LOTS of cockroaches. And she'd looked at the eyes of her other self and been terrified of what she'd found there.

Now, she later found out that she had inadvertently stumbled upon an alternate future, but that did not change her opinion of the little vermin at all. In no way could she find any worth to the creatures, and shrank from even thinking about them.

So, she had been happy to hear a plan from the Arcadia.

*"K'hei and I have a plan!"* declared Y'uri, the Arcadia's sensor officer.

"What is it?" asked Mars.

*"We figure that the best way to defeat this thing is to flood the tunnels."*

"How do you plan on doing that?"

*"By using weapons fire to dig a trench from that lake over there to the creature's tunnels!"* commented K'hei.

"That seems to be a bit much..."

Mercury shrugged. "But it would likely be effective. Even if it didn't damage him, then it would drive Hastur out from underground."

Pluto nodded resolutely. "Then it should do just fine."

"Aren't you worried?"

"No, I'm not. Let us do it."

"I guess so..."

*"Yes! Let's start the bug hunt!"* commented K'hei. "Begging the Emperor's permission, of course."*

*"Why not?"* came Ranma's voice.

*"Yeah! Readying weapon systems!"*

Hastur did not have much of a mind of his own, but he could recognise stimuli. Being attacked and having its body whittled away had sent it into the underground tunnels.

The earth trembling had made it sense that something was wrong. A rumbling sound made it take special notice. And the streams of water meant that it had to get away very quickly.

Out of the tunnel came Hastur.

Right in front of the massed firepower that had been ranged against him.

If it would have been able to form words, they would be something in the vein or 'Oh shit.'

In that moment,:

Hastur got blown away. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Pluto remembers the Titans   
by Kestral

The last time Hastur had run on a rampage, he'd been a nearly unstoppable force and only the combined magic of all the Earth mages had been able to fight him and his brothers and contain them.

Now there were missiles and particle beams and lasers and gauss weapons and beam ribbons being used against him, and he had to admit that these were a lot more effective than bronze spear points and copper swords.

Sailor Pluto had a certain look of satisfaction as the cockroach was being effectively and thoroughly stomped. "He's subdued, Emperor, please direct one of your ships to take him off planet."

*"Uhm, okay,"* said the Emperor's voice. *"How dja know that's a 'he'?"*

"Because Kafka Hastur was a male and once human, but due to the powers they tampered with - he became that thing out there." Sailor Pluto watched as the tow cables were shot into Hastur and two transports began taking their cargo off. "Where are they going, anyway?"

It was Steiner who answered, bringing up a chart of the solar system. "These giant monsters are being placed on a small moon here."

"One of the Kuiper Belt Objects then," said Pluto, "how big?"

Steiner answered by nodding to a subordinate who was more comfortable with such things.

"It's about 900 of your kilometers in diameter. Primarily composed of ice. Carbon dioxide, some water, average temperature is pretty much background, no atmosphere other than some traces of hydrogen and oxygen. It's a big iceball, essentially." The girl adjusted her glasses and continued. "Monster Planet is along the outer edge of this belt of cometary debris and its orbit is such that at its nearest approach to your sun, it will still be comfortably within the same belt at 40 Astronomical Units."

Sailor Pluto nodded. "Personally, I think 'Tartarus' would be a better name. I would suggest putting in navigational buoys nearby to ward off unwary ships."

"Emperor?" Captain Steiner asked.

*"Yeah, go ahead."* Emperor Ranma proclaimed.

*"So what other of these Titans do you know about?"* Beatrix asked over the commlink.

"There are a number of them. Dagon is of the water, resembling a huge armored squid. He's also referred to as Kraken in some sources. If Okeanos is free, he'll be moving towards deeper channels. He had enough of his mind left to try and isolate himself, otherwise his rages would pulverize those around him. Most of the others I only remember names, it has been quite some time." Pluto frowned. She'd been trying to remember but apparently the centuries had taken their toll. "Koios and Kreios. Theia, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, Tethys - they're not as mindless as some. Cthulhu's mind was completely snapped during the transformation, I remember something about that. Iapetos was married to Clymene and his family was there at what was supposed to be his moment of triumph, instead they all were mixed up in his nightmare. I remember that. Atlas, Menoitios. Prometheus - who retained his mind and actually helped to contain the others. Epimetheus was also immune to the madness, but left permanently a moron. Latona and Tellus. Themis - who was also mainly human still but ended up bound with the others."

*"That's quite a few,"* noted Beatrix.

"The project involved some of the best and brightest minds from Earth," agreed Pluto. "Then there are the Hecantotheire brothers, Typhon, and technically the Seasons, the Fates, and the Furies. I don't expect any of the last three groups to come into play and Typhon I am hoping not. The Muses would be difficult to fight but hopefully they aren't involved."

"Muses? Patrons of the arts weren't they?" Mercury asked, breaking into the conversation.

"When the battle to contain Mnemosyne occurred, nine gems of power - shards of Mnemosyne and containing much of her power - were broken from the Titan of Memory. They were split up and guarded over by holy women, who apparently survived to the times of the ancient Greeks enough to send their astral forms at least. Calliope, Clio, Euterpe, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polyhymnia, Urania, and Thalia. What happened to them after that, I do not know." Pluto frowned. "Their power isn't that great. A Senshi transformation allows for more personal power and control. Clio's gem was that of History - she could view the past of any object or location she visited with that gem, peeling away the layers of intervening time to see clearly what was. Terpsichore's gem allowed her to play any instrument as if a master and weave spells with songs. Of course, that meant that her spells were normally five minutes or longer to cast."

"If we could find these gems, we might be able to use them against our opponents then?" Mercury asked.

"The problem would be finding them," indicated Pluto. "Looking for nine scattered gemstones roughly the size of your thumb that are somewhere in the Mediterranean area? How much use would Euterpe's gem, which allows you to rhyme and speak with the grace of a poet, be in a fight with the Titans?"

"Oh. What about the Hecantotheire?" Mercury asked, continuing to take notes.

"The Hundred-Handed Ones," explained Pluto. "Translation difficulty. They didn't have a hundred hands, they were a hundred hands tall. Roughly. There were two of them, brothers empowered by one of the Titans and turned into engines of destruction with great power. I doubt we'll see any of them."

Ryoga sneezed, sending an iron pebble to imbed in a girder.

It had taken him quite some time to sneak aboard a ship, his new form was definitely noticeable, but he'd finally done it.

Then he'd found a ship with an odd English name, but he'd seen the ship in Japan and known he could hitch a ride with them.

Japan, and his destiny, called.

Meanwhile, the Greenpeace ship continued towards their destination in the Azores.

 

Pluto discovers that the Titan's Gate is only big enough to allow one or two to escape at a time! Who's the next one? 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Checking The Door   
by Kender

"So there's only one question to ask," commented Jupiter.

Pluto arched an eyebrow. "And what would that be?"

"Which one's coming next?"

"That's true. But you did forget the other one."

"I did?"

"Yes. How many of them would there be next time?"

Mars nodded. "That's true."

"But how would we find that out?" asked Mercury.

"Wait for the next time that one of them attacks?"

"That may happen, but I was hoping to find out before that occurred."

"Well, it's not like we can just waltz up to the seal and check it."

"Perhaps not," put in the Senshi of Time, "But we can check."

"You know where it is?"

"Not really."

"Then how do we check it out?"

"I may not know the exact spot of the seal, I was told of the general area."

"Why? It'd be easier to know so that you could keep an eye out."

"But they wanted to keep it secret so that no one would be visiting it enough to even accidentally release the Titans."

"Oh."

"I will go and check, before returning to inform you of what I find," Pluto told them before disappearing.

She reappeared on a cliff overlooking a large area of land. To the naked eye it would seem to be nothing more than a spectacular view. But to Pluto's senses, this was a place of great eldritch energies. She could detect the subtle, yet complex, weavings of power settled upon the area.

And there was one area that pulsed with the energy that she was looking for. It seemed to be a major source of power, but one that was slightly... 'off'. There was a similar feel to the Time Gate, but this one was more reinforced than the other. However, it was... darker than the one that she guarded.

Her question about the limits of the Gate was quickly answered as she detected a shift of energies that told her that something was coming through. By what she could tell, it seemed that it took a lot to go through, so that meant that one, maybe two could come out at time. She stayed only long enough to see which one it was, before leaving to tell the Senshi and the troops that they would have to deal with: 

Okeanos. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Meanwhile, what of Nerima?   
by Kestral

Ranma had been stolen away by aliens the last anyone had seen of him. Aliens that looked like sexy young women. (Mainly because they were, but that's another story.) He'd gone on to become Emperor of Mongo and was basically having a grand old time.

In the absence of Ranma, you might suppose (as Ranma did) that all the chaos and all the insanity would have left the lives of those he'd left behind. That Akane would be happily leading a life without the chaos of Ranma being involved.

Well, maybe. That also would be another story. Because what had happened was that all the chaos of Ranma's life had just stuck around and begun festering.

Soun snapped completely. Before the week was out, he'd managed to engage his daughters to new fiances. Repeatedly. Several each.

Kasumi had found herself not only engaged several times over, usually to men more than twice her age but in some cases she had to wonder if they were indeed of the same species. While she had been somewhat oblivious before, the staring off into space while twitching was a recent development.

Happosai was so happy that he was engaged to Soun's eldest. Though if it didn't work out, he could always have Soun switch it to dear sweet Akane.

Nabiki had found herself being engaged to Hiroshi AND Daisuke for three bottles of sake and a month's supply of groceries from Hiroshi's father's supermarket. She had protested. She had protested loudly! When the dust settled, Soun was bawling again because he'd somehow or other sold his middle daughter's to the Amazons. Cologne was still trying to figure out why Soun Tendo had drawn up that contract, but she was mostly satisfied with Nabiki as her backup waitress/accountant and Nabiki was interested in doing a good job so that she could start up a business management company. She liked the work but was very unhappy about her sale and the lack of negotiations her father had performed. Particularly as she was now engaged to Mousse as well as Hiroshi and Daisuke.

Akane was engaged to Tatewaki Kuno, Hikaru Gosunkugi, Hitoshi Sado, Tsubasa Kurenai, and someone named Mamoru Chiba. She was very very not happy about this development in her life. She was even less happy about her father's reactions to complaints being a threat to engage her to Happosai instead of Kasumi.

Nor had those not of the Tendo family escaped completely.

Shampoo found herself exiled from her tribe. Fortunately she could keep her room and the waitress job and was also attending some schooling to deal with her speech impediment. Having another waitress around helped.

Ukyo found herself running her business at all hours and Konatsu was apparently being scouted out as an idol singer. Ukyo had not discovered any spaceships she could hitch a ride with, and so had pretty much turned her attention fully to business until this changed.

Genma, deciding that he had to have a son otherwise he'd never be able to face his wife and her (gulp) katana, had wracked his brains for three days. Finally he'd decided that what he needed to do was find a substitute. If he'd ever met Shinnosuke, that might have worked, but as it was he had decided to go to Herb of the Musk. Surely they had a boy who was a good martial artist who could fill in for Ranma!

What no one realized was that Ryoga was almost back in town, though a little changed by his recent adventure.

Pluto watched as the form of Okeanos strode past her, easily 120 feet in height and formed entirely of seawater that was bound to a human shape.

Once in the water he'd be especially difficult to deal with. Until then he was far more vulnerable and easy to find.

Watching him go past, Pluto decided 

to try talking to Okeanos. Did his human intellect remain over the imprisonment? 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Talking It Out   
by Kender

 

Pluto knew that she had to at least try. It was what she could do for the man who had become this being. There was still a possibility that he was still there, that there was some remnant of the person that he had been. If that was possible, then she could help him then. Perhaps they could come to some sort of agreement where he could be left to hide himself in the depths of the ocean again, or agree to be transported to some planet where he could live without the danger of hurting someone.

It would also allow them to conserve their energy for when they would need it. Being able to skip a fight would mean that they would have the chance to rest and recharge before getting involved in a battle.

Heck, if there was enough of him left, then maybe he could help them fight off the other Titans, and any enemies afterwards. Though she considered that possibility to be a pipe dream.

So sending energy through her Time Staff to get his attention, she called out, "Okeanos!"

The massive figure of water turned to her and: 

asked what she wanted. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Okeanos' loyalty   
by Kestral

Okeanos the Sea Titan looked down at the tiny figure crossing his path. Were he some relatively mortal creature, he might dismiss this as some insect, but he could feel the power burning within and knew. "You of Thy Moone Kingdomne. Y Dost Thou Trespass Upon Thy Lande f Thy Earthe Kingdomne?"

"Hold Okeanos, for I am Sailor Pluto," said Pluto, even as she realized she was probably all too wrong for this job. ENDYMION, aka Tuxedo Mask, should be the one approaching these Titans since at the time of their imprisonment - they were NOT allies of the Moon Kingdom that she represented.

"Thy Type Be Known To Me, Time Priestess. I Be Old And Old. Thy Transfiguration Ws Partly Successfulle As Thy Might See. By What Authority Dost Thou Seek To Parlay With Okeanos, He Who Hath Fathered The Oceanids? Beware Thou Try To Commande Me - For My Wrath Is That Of The Raging Storm."

"By the authority of the reborn Endymion, Prince Of The Earth Kingdom, who I count as an ally!" Sailor Pluto shouted up at the Titan.

Okeanos paused and looked closer at the tiny being.

"Ye Speake Th Truth, As Ye Knowe It. Very Well, Pluto Stafarer, Speake On." 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Talking To Water   
by Kender

"Ye Speake Thy Truth, As Ye Knowe It. Very Well, Pluto Stafarer, Speake On," intoned Okeanos.

Pluto let out the breath that she had been held and steadied herself as best she could. She knew that she would need all her skill to make certain that things didn't go badly. And if she could manage it, this could be a major coup for her side in dealing with the Titans. "I come to ask to discuss a proposal!"

Okeanos inclined his 'head'. "And What Would Thy Proposal Be?"

"It is a combination of an offer and and a question!"

"Speak Ye Mynd Now, For Mine Patience Dost Wear Thin."

"I apologise! We wish to know your intentions so that we might know what we have to do!"

"Mine Plans Were To Seek Thy Depths of the Sea. What Wouldst Thou Do Then?"

"If nothing else happens, then we will leave you be!" the Senshi of Time yelled up to him, "But if you wish, we can do something for you!"

"What Could Thou Do For Me?"

"We have an arrangement with a group that could take you to a planet where your anger would never harm any person again!"

"But I Sense That There Be Some Other Matter That Thou Wouldst Wish To Ask Me."

"Yes! If it would be at all possible, we would like your help!"

"Thou Wish To Contract Mine Assistance? For What Purpose?"

"There are other Titans that are not as... accommodating as you! We wish to deal with them properly, but if we do that, we might cause more damage than we prevent!"

"And Thou Wishest For Mine Help In Thy Matter?"

"If you would, we would be most appreciative!"

The Titan managed to give off the effect of a frown. "And What Wouldst Thou Give In Return For That?"

"Either to transport you someplace where you could stay in piece, or to let you be in the depths of the sea unmolested!"

For a moment, there was silence from the giant of water, but then Okeanos spoke. 

"The Chance To Be Upon A World Without Danger Appeals Mighty." 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Negotiations were going fine  
by Kestral

Sailor Pluto looked up at the huge shape made of sea water. Okeanos was an unknown quality. His human part was mainly in control. Mainly being the key word there. One reason he'd isolated himself originally was because of that lack of control. Within the depths of the sea he would be calmed by the dark silence and remain in control. Out here in the open, nearly anything could happen.

"The Chance To Be Upon A World Without Danger Appeals Mighty," admitted the Titan of the Seas. "If Thou Speak True, Then -"

"Deep Submerge!" "World Shaking!"

Sailor Pluto twitched as two attacks struck Okeanos. One was absorbed, healing the damage of the World Shaking and adding slightly to his power.

More to the point, it had just convinced Okeanos that the whole thing was a trick.

"MOON WITCHES! YOU SHALL PAY FOR YOUR DECEPTION!" Okeanos transformed, losing the human shape to become a serpentine battering ram which arced towards Pluto.

Sailor Pluto sidestepped it, using her connection to the Gates Of Time to disappear there and reappear back at the camp.

"Pluto-san?"

"We'll have to go rescue Uranus and Neptune," said Pluto. "The negotiations... fell apart. It will be difficult to fight Okeanos with our current setup."

"Space Sword Blaster!" Uranus called out, cutting the snake in half.

The two forms flowed back together, showing no apparent damage.

"Submarine Reflection!" The mirror shone with its brilliance towards Okeanos.

"YOU DARE TO USE WATER BASED MAGIC AGAINST ME?!" Okeanos laughed as he grabbed the energies and pulled them.

"AAAH?!" Neptune suddenly found her Mirror being pulled towards the living river and her own energies being leached away. Her eyes widened as cracks began to form in her Aqua Mirror. "What?!"

"I AM WATER IN ITS PUREST FORM. SEEKEST MINE END WITH YOUR ATTACKS? TRY YOU THIS! 'CRUSHING DEPTHS!'"

Uranus jumped in front of Neptune, cutting the wave of water in half with her Space Sword.

"FOOLS," rumbled Okeanos. "I HAVE TIME NO MORE FOR THEE. SEE HOW DOST THOU ENJOY THIS! 'SEA CHANGE'!"

It turns out it was a transformative attack? What happened to Uranus and Neptune? 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Water Manipulations   
by Kender

Standing in front of Neptune, Uranus stood firm, certain that she would be able to block this latest strike. No monster was going to get the better of her, and she knew from Pluto's information that no Titan could be allowed to wake up Typhon. When they had seen Pluto facing that giant water creature, they had known that they had to act before she was attacked by the monster.

So they had headed into what they were sure would be a hard battle, and struck before it could know what was happening.

Unfortunately, they had terribly misjudged the situation, not only because they had attacked at a moment in which Pluto had been nearing success in her negotiations with Okeanos. What they hadn't realised was that each of the Titans had special abilities that were particular to each of them. Hyperion had an energy beam and the ability to make multiple images of himself and Hastur had an ease of tunneling that made him nearly as fast underground as he was above it.

In Okeanos' case, he was able to shift his form into various weapons and designs, along with having his 'Sea Change' skill. The first was a multifaceted attacking power, but the second...

The two Senshi discovered what it was when a stream of water swirled around them in the air and began glowing, lifting their bodies from the ground. They could feel something running through their forms, pushing and pulling them in all sorts of ways. By the time that they realised that something major was happening to them, they were totally enveloped by a ball of water, but did not drown.

When it burst, it sent them flying into a pool of water, splashing the cool liquid everywhere.

As they began to recover their senses, they looked at each other, and themselves, discovering that they had been transformed into: 

 

a pair of mythological sea creatures. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Haruka Nymph and Michiru Mermaid   
by Kestral

Okeanos had fathered the Oceanids. Among other things.

This had been well known.

When the Inners and a patrol ship had reached the area of the fight, Okeanos had moved on.

"What's wrong with them? Other than the obvious stuff?" Sailor Moon asked.

Mercury finished her scans. "They're drowning."

"But they're not in water," complained Moon.

"That's the problem, they're water breathers now. They can only exist a short time away from water," Mercury continued her analysis.

"Ma'am, we can get them to the coast," Captain Steiner told Pluto as the two seafarers were loaded into the transport. "What then?"

"Well," said Mercury, slightly annoyed that there were no Mercury Knights looking for her input. "According to my scans of their brainwave patterns -" 

they're amnesiacs. We'll have to restrain them." 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Senshi Memory   
by Kender

"Well," said Mercury, slightly annoyed that there were no Mercury Knights looking for her input. "According to my scans of their brainwave patterns they're amnesiacs. We'll have to restrain them."

Pluto frowned. "That will mean great difficulties later, but for the moment we will have to make certain to keep them safe. Can it be reversed?"

"I don't know at the moment. It depends on what I find out. If it's a simple block or something like that, then it shouldn't be too difficult. But if he erased their personal memories completely... that would definitely be a problem."

"And their physical forms?"

"That will need more research too. I can't say for certain until I know how he did it. All it could take would be for Moon to use her Crystal, or it could need some great technical apparatus. There's no way to be sure until we get some solid information."

 

"Great..," grumbled Jupiter, "But how did this happen?"

"Okeanos did it," replied Pluto, "I was involved in a critical point in negotiating a peaceful settlement to his presence when they attacked. Possibly they thought that I was in danger, but I can't tell for certain."

"And they can't tell us," commented Mars, "But how do we deal with them now?"

"Put them in a tank," answered Mercury.

"What?"

"It's really simple. Either place them in some body of water with a barrier that will keep them in the area that we want them in, or construct a pool or tank of water in which we can keep them comfortably."

"Wonderful. From Senshi to members of an aquarium."

"Unfortunately, in their current state, we can't do much about that. All we can do is keep them from wandering off or hurting themselves in confusion."

"What about the one who did this?" asked Venus.

The Senshi of Pluto shook her head. "Likely already on his way to the ocean bottom, and he'll probably stay there unless provoked again. But if he does come back up, then all we can do is wait and prepare ourselves for another fight."

"And risk becoming a fish? But my name isn't going to be 'Wonder'."

"That's 'Wanda'," murmured Pluto, "In any case, we have to deal with this problem, and prepare changes in plans for when the next Titan comes out."

"Certainly Ma'am!" called out Steiner, who then turned to his troops. "Let's get going!"

"What's going to happen if Mercury can't fix them?" asked Moon.

"Then we'll cross that bridge when we come to it," replied Pluto while: 

an enclosure was prepared for Uranus and Neptune. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Haruka and Michiru's sitrep   
by Kestral

Their memories had been locked away. They would return eventually. So would their original forms. That would be in the future.

Right now Haruka was an Oceanid - a sea nymph. Michiru was a mermaid.

Either could survive for a time out of the water. Haruka was the most human looking but could only spend fifteen minutes or so out of the water. Michiru could become more humanlike while out of the water, but would have to return to it and mermaid form within a half hour at most.

The two had been wiped clean as far as their memories were concerned. Nearly at the level of newborns as far as that was concerned.

Two tanks were quickly being rigged within the transport ship and a stop at the ocean allowed for a supply of salt water to be attained. Bubblers and other supplies were either constructed or brought out of storage. One of Mongo's races was not all that dissimilar from Uranus' current form, which meant that the engineers were familiar with the requirements of such.

What nobody realized, what nobody had figured out, what no one had really even guessed was that both Senshi had a considerable amount of guilt they had internalized. They were always going off on their own, talking about duty and angst, shooting first and asking questions later, etc. They rationalized such things even when it didn't work out. It was their role, their duty, they felt they had to act a certain way and do the dirty deeds that were deemed necessary that their princess would not.

The guilt, the pain, the angst, their worries and concerns - were all gone. Wiped clean.

Which had the effect on some level of their psyche of further suppressing their memories. Without the weight of duty forcing them on, they shied away from the pain that on that level they realized that remembering would bring them.

The Nymph smiled a delighted child's smile as she did a quick aquabatic flip in her tank and then came to rest her hands against the glass. She liked boys. She liked girls too. Such pretty girls and boys. What a pity they couldn't play with her. OH! That nice boy with the funny hair had just put a floaty round thingie in the water. A toy! She liked toys. A round... ball? Ball! She liked that. Funny hair boy must be a nice boy! Maybe if she got him in her tank they could play!

The Mermaid smiled at the people looking at her and making odd noises in the air. She stuck her head up so she could listen properly. The noises sounded familiar but it seemed to make her sad to try and figure the noises out so she wouldn't do that. Oh look one of them had brought her a thingie! It was a nice curved thingie with strings that looked kind of familiar. A... a... harp! That was it! It was a harp! Oh! Nice boy who had given that nymph a ball was putting the harp in her tank! Mermaid was tempted to pull the boy into her tank so she could hug him and thank him, but he didn't seem to want to touch the water. How strange!

The transmissions had been voice only so far, and so the transport ship had been the first chance the Senshi had seen the Emperor.

The Captain Harlock costume was a little odd and would have been ludicrous on Umino. It might have worked pretty well on Mamoru Chiba, especially in the eyes of one Usagi Tsukino. On Ranma, particularly after his recent set of workouts in variable gravity?

Minako choked on her own drool (which was better than choking on someone else's but still pretty embarrassing) and wondering if her friends would mind if she broke their legs just to keep them away. Not realizing YET that by being too forward she'd likely scare him away.

Makoto had been eyeing a number of Marines and soldiers, almost all of whom were fairly trim and fit. Upon seeing the Emperor she'd mainly forgotten about them. Cookies. She needed to make cookies.

Ami scanned the Emperor with her Mercury computer. Pictures hadn't done him justice. Gee. Maybe he could help her with her medical studies?

Hotaru somehow managed to get between the Inners and her Emperor. It wasn't that the look in several sets of eyes were concerning her. No, not at all. Never crossed her mind.

The looks on Haruka-papa and Michiru-mama's faces were kind of scary though.

Rei wondered about this Emperor. Could they trust him? Would he be a danger to the future? Maybe he could help her with her planned career as a seiyuu and singer?

The Emperor had discussed things with Pluto and made a couple of suggestions. When Akane had been hit with that memory blocking shampoo trick, something familiar had broken her out of it. So he'd ordered a nice ball made with race car designs and a harp (he understood that the blonde liked cars and the mermaid liked music) and so he'd figured that sort of thing would help 'em break through this blocked memory thing.

Now, of course, they had to figure out how to fight something made of seawater.

After some discussion (and Ranma wondering what he'd done wrong that had those girls staring at him) it was decided to try: 

ice attacks such as Sailor Mercury's. They could try freezing Okeanos and then shipping him off planet. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Making Ice   
by Kender

Rei frowned as the plan was finalized. "But is this the best way to deal with this?"

"What do you mean?" asked Pluto with an eyebrow raised in the Fire Senshi's direction.

"Well... all ice will do will stop it, not beat him."

"Which is precisely what we aim to do."

"How is that?"

The Time Senshi gave her a soft smile. "Despite what Uranus and Neptune might have thought, we do not have to destroy all of the Titans, not that we could in this case."

"Are you saying that we can't beat him?" asked Makoto.

"It would be a longshot at best. Most energy attacks, such as Venus' beams and my 'Dead Scream' would only put holes into him that he could regenerate. Fire would at best turn him to steam, which would send him into the air, who knows where. Lightning might hurt him, but that would be a last resort."

"So we use ice," commented Ami.

"Exactly. It will stop him in his tracks long enough so that we can transport him someplace where the highest form of life is in the sea. Or at the very least, just has no one living there."

Makoto frowned. "But he attacked Haruka and Michiru."

"Only when provoked, and to be honest, this would be the easiest way. Plus... he was nearly ready to allow us to do that anyway. If we could get him to another planet with the least bit of harm, then perhaps we could get him to trust us again."

"That's great n' all," put in Ranma, "but I got one question for ya."

"What is that?"

"How are we gonna find him in all that real water?"

For a moment, Setsuna opened her mouth, and then looked as if she had a sudden realization. "That will be a problem."

"The only way that I have at the moment," said Ami, "Is to: 

check for the differences between his form and real water." 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Sailing the Okeanos   
by Kestral

Mongo had not upgraded their sensors too much since Ming's day. Wang had been the only one really interested in such matters, and he hadn't had the time between his recruitment of the Teknosians and his assassination to shift research into that area.

While ships flitted over the ocean, Sailor Mercury was looking for a pattern that might have indicated Okeanos was present when she realized what she was reading. "...Pluto-san? What do you remember of Okeanos' powers?"

"Water magic," answered the Senshi of Time. "Body composed itself of water. Okeanos embodied the power, the moods, and the might of the sea... He fathered the Oceanids, probably by using the attack he did on Uranus and Neptune."

Mercury glanced over to where the Emperor was laying his hand on the glass of one aquarium, causing the mermaid to do the same from the other side while grinning that childish grin she now had. "Hmmm. Good with children, possibly."

Pluto tried to remember but it had been an extremely long time ago. "They were looking for an ultimate water magic control. Okeanos Project."

"He controls water by merging with it, doesn't he?" said Mercury in a voice that indicated she was going from bemused to panic.

"Yes, I believe so..." Pluto's voice began trailing off and she looked out across the Mediterranean. "He's spread himself out?"

"I'd estimate he covers roughly five square nautical miles and is continuing to spread," indicated Mercury. "He's a bit too big for me to freeze."

"Freeze? No. I wouldn't think so. Due to his form, conventional weapons won't be effective, so I am unsure what we could use to even get him to notice," confessed Pluto. Their attacks weren't normally that area-effective.

"Well, if we attacked him, he would probably notice," said Pluto. "Maybe if Sailor Moon used the ginzuishou at full power?"

"Preferably, we'd have to find a way that was NOT confrontational," said Pluto. "If Sailor Moon used the full power of the ginzuishou - she'd be left without that power if one of the other Titans threaten."

The mermaid and the nymph liked the pretty girls in the bright colors and the boys in the dull colors and they liked funny hair boy and girl with stick especially.

Mermaid wondered about what she could do to play with funny hair boy when she remembered the harp.

It seemed natural to pluck a string and produce a sound, and one led to another, and then some more.

Mermaid found something else she liked. She liked making noises on the harp. It seemed to get easier as she went too.

Mongo had a long history of intrigue. Usually one of the Emperors would hear about it and the instigators of said intrigue died nasty and thoroughly messy deaths.

General Mille looked over the results of her henchwoman work. "This will do it?"

"We think so, ma'am."

"Not good enough," indicated General Mille.

"How would we test it?" Ensign Sleek asked. "It's designed to affect 'magical girls' by using their transformation and the very forces that would protect or restore them to mold them into proper seraglio members. We don't have any magical girls to test it on."

"This is not my problem," argued back Mille. "I'm the General in charge of Human Resources for the Palace staff. The Emperor wants a seraglio to double as guards. If one of these girls actually becomes a wife - the seraglio's days are numbered and I'm likely out of a job. So do you know whose problem it is if this gadget doesn't work?"

"Yours?" tried Ensign Sleek.

General Mille shook her head once. "Wrong answer. Because, Sleek, the moment that happens you and the other five women on your squad will end up leading the follow up expeditionary force to Tartarus. I think that the problem with the last four expeditions was that they had too much in the way of weapons and armor, thereby constituting a threat. So your group should go with loincloths and armed with salad forks just to indicate that you are not a credible threat. For the glory of Mongo, of course."

"Tartarus?!" Ensign Sleek sat down, missing the chair. "Didn't the last mission involve twenty Marines backed up by combat robots? Didn't they come back..."

"We had to use DNA analysis to determine that what had been heaped into the transport was actually the expeditionary force, yes," said General Mille. "Don't worry. I'm sure your squad will last twice as long as the last group. You might actually make it all the way down the ramp!"

"Erk!" Ensign Sleek said, proclaiming her own thought of what it would be like to end up on a world where kuei held sway. At least that's what they'd taken to calling the unseen natives. "I'll get right on the testing, General Mille! You can count on me!"

 

"I was hoping so," said the General.

Meanwhile: 

the new Ryoga gets acquainted with Japan. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Pigzilla   
by Kender

Walking along the boardwalk, Rena sighed. "I still don't understand why you like that stuff."

"Because it's fun!" Yoshi told his friend with a grin, "I mean, what beats a monster movie marathon?"

"Um... Do you want a list?"

"Oh come on... Didn't you have the least bit of fun?"

"I did find the wires to be a bit obvious."

"Which is part of it."

"Pardon?"

"Where else are you going to find something to laugh at while watching scenes of rampant destruction?"

"Oh, so that's why you like it."

"Some of the reason, but it's still a fun time," he told her, "Besides, there's never going to be some giant monster coming out of the sea to attack."

"ARRRRGH!" went a voice behind them.

The two turned and looked to find the source of the voice. Standing before them was a combination of a man and a pig that was fifteen feet tall and armored.

And it looked grumpy.

"AHHHH!" went Rena.

"YAAAA!" went Yoshi.

"Hold on!" went Ryouga (a.k.a. 'Pig Iron') as he watched the pair run for their lives. "Now how am I going to get directions to the Dojo?"

"Miyuki?" said a police woman as she turned to her partner and friend.

"Yes Natsume?" replied Miyuki.

"How are we supposed to stop that?" The other officer looked towards the scene where a giant monster was chasing civilians. "I... have no idea."

Ryouga was not a 'happy camper' by any sense of the phrase. All he had tried to do was to get to the Tendo Dojo, but for some reason he couldn't do that without problems. And he hadn't tried to cause any.

But no matter what he did, or where he went, people kept on running from him. For that, there was only one person to blame: Ranma.

However, when he beat the other boy, he'd finally get back to normal, and not have to worry about scaring the passer bys.

"AHHHH! A MONSTER!"

Like he had just done. Sighing, he continued on his way while: 

Michiru's harp playing got Okeanos' attention in a pleasant way. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Music soothes the raging sea   
by Kestral

Mercury sat before the computer and put in a search term. 'Typhon'.

Instead of the Greek myths she got something else. "What is that?"

Pluto and Beatrix both looked over her shoulders. Finally Pluto answered. "That is an old archive video of Typhon."

The living cloud walked on feet formed by tornadoes. Dimly seen was the core, and then only when it shot gouts of flame or lightning or pyroclastic material towards a target.

"It's how big?" Beatrix asked, wondering if ship-to-ship weaponry would be effective.

"About 2000 miles if you count the cloud of poisonous acidic vapors surrounding it. Enough of the poison leaks out that everything dies where it passes," observed Pluto. "Typhon is a pure engine of destruction that struck Earth in the Cambrian period and caused a massive die-off. The vortices that form its 'hundred serpent heads' are tornadoes, so are the ones that act similar to legs. It was briefly awakened by the event that created the other Titans."

Mercury stared at the beast for the brief time the clip showed. None of her attacks really seemed to be the sort something like that would even notice.

"It's beneath Mount Aetna," said Pluto. "I remember that now. Typhon's cage is beneath that volcano."

"If it has been there for that long, then Mars' fire attacks will be ineffective as well," speculated Mercury.

"The vast majority of attacks we could bring to bear would bother Typhon less a flea biting an elephant," said Pluto without much sarcasm. "There are only three exceptions to that. Sailor Moon using the ginzuishou at full power. Sailor Saturn's Death Reborn Revolution. And there is one other."

Beatrix turned her one eyed gaze towards Pluto. "The Nova Cannon?"

Actually, Pluto had been thinking of a Chronos Typhoon Nova - the attack that combined her power with Saturn's if they could convince Venus to input her own contribution. Granted it might not do much but it would likely be noticed. Not wanting to appear ignorant of something, she merely nodded.

"I see that our most secret councils need to upgrade their security," said Beatrix. "How distressing that an Outsider should learn of it so quickly."

"The 'Nova Cannon'?" Mercury asked.

"A secret, or formerly secret, weapon of Mongo," said Beatrix, who didn't see the point of keeping it secret when this mysterious girl smirked and indicated she knew the whole thing. No doubt using one of those magical powers. "Using a matter+antimatter collision and channelling the forces in a single direction. It is likely containment would fail thereafter but over 95% of the force could be directed into a beam form."

Pluto twitched slightly.

Mercury asked the obvious question. "How much antimatter?"

Beatrix shrugged. "All we've got. Three ounces."

Mercury turned to stare at the General. "Three ounces of antimatter converted instantly to energy?"

"It was one of the plans of what to do if you Senshi had actually killed the Emperor and what we could have done about it," explained Beatrix. "Fortunately that doesn't appear to be the case. 95% is our best estimate for the direction process. Most are lower at about 71%."

"You were going to assassinate the Emperor?" Mercury asked Pluto in a subdued tone of voice.

"If it turned out to be necessary," agreed Pluto, showing no indication of how her own stomach had just gone through free fall.

"I see..." said Mercury quietly. Obviously they needed good relations with the new Emperor. NOW. Counting on the diplomacy of the Outers was not a risk she felt they could take.

Ranma watched the two gals in the tank. He'd only met them briefly. The aqua haired girl who was now a mermaid had seemed kinda snooty to him. One of those artsy aristocrat types. Probably had an annoying laugh or something. The blonde gal had seemed kinda hostile, more at the beginning than the end - mainly confused at the end. Oh well.

"It's kinda nice being around girls that aren't constantly fighting me or over me," said Emperor Ranma as the mermaid swam back within her enclosure to her harp and started figuring out how to play it. He'd met a whole buncha girls now - some of whom were fairly nice and none of 'em were fiancees. Things were definitely looking up for him.

The misplaying became playing and slowly teased into an actual melody as the music simply flowed from within the mermaid's heart.

It echoed across the waters.

The waters stilled in response.

Anger faded and reason returned.

Okeanos calmed as the music played and memories returned. Slowly the ocean began to rise, drawn by the song being given by the mermaid. 

The Senshi are able to get him to Europa without much trouble. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Calmed Waves  
by Kender

The mermaid played as shouts and yells began to continue in the background. But she did not notice them as her playing had gotten to the point where she had gotten into the song. Melody became the point for its own sake and more than something to try. It was for her something that she enjoyed in and of itself.

Still, she was able to notice the giant water thing come out of the ocean and over to her tank. There was some distress on the part of those outside, but as she played, the giant came over and seemed to listen to her music.

Those around her looked happy that it had happened and she took it as being pleased for her music. They ran around, hurrying for some reason, but it looked to be an excited thing. That made her happy as she realised that they were happy.

The fact that they were building something and attaching it to one of those big things that flew did not matter to her. Nor did the odd words that the giant and the girl with the big key said. Her world was her music, and the pleasure that it brought others.

"Tell Me Why Should I Believe Thou?" Okeanos asked as he swayed to the mermaid's tune.

Pluto frowned as she remembered what had happened the last time. "I apologise for that, but apparently my... associates acted under the assumption that you were like Hyperion, and out for destruction."

"So Ye Seek to Trick Me Once More?"

"Never! I still wish to follow your wishes and have you taken far away, to a planet without any person to hurt."

"And Where Would Be The Proof Of Thy Goode Faith?" asked the currently mellow Titan.

The Senshi of Time gestured with her staff. "There. That is a device by which we can hold you for your travels to the other world. It is attached to a ship already, leaving only you to board it."

"And If I Were To Refuse Thy Offer And Simply Strike Thee Down?"

"Then we would surely fall, for we are not prepared for such a strike."

"As I Can See. Fine Then, I Shall Take Thee Upon Thy Word..."

"Thank you!"

"Thee Are Most Welcome."

Watching the fruits of her labor, Setsuna allowed herself a little smile. Okeanos was getting into the transport container, and soon he would be taking up residence on Europa. Which meant that the planet would be safe, and he would be able to live in peace.

So she leaned on her staff and enjoyed the respite while: 

,,, getting on to deal with the next Titan. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Theia promises a warming trend   
by Kestral

The Emperor and the Mongolian Generals and advisors were on one side. The Senshi sat on the other side.

"Okeanos of the ocean," said Mercury as she brought up an image. "With powers over magic dealing with water. Hastur of the insects. Hyperion the solar battery. Three of the Titans have been dealt with. We have temporarily lost Uranus and Neptune until their Senshi transformation overcomes the transformation laid upon them by Okeanos."

"Who's the next problem?" Mars asked bluntly.

"Judging from the way solar flares have just started erupting, Hyperion's partner - Theia is likely." Mercury frowned as she used her computer to bring up an image. "I hacked into a NASA geosurveyor satellite and got these pictures."

"What is it, other than a very bright dot?" Jupiter asked.

"Her. Using extreme methods of reconstructing a picture, this is what I came up with," said Mercury as she brought up a blurry dot.

"That's not much better," pointed out Jupiter.

"It's difficult to tell, but apparently Theia is something along the line of a living solar prominence which managed to bind itself into the semblance of the woman she used to be. You'll notice the trail of white hot rock behind her that NASA used to pinpoint her location?" Mercury pointed out. "The good news is that if you don't come into direct contact with her, those temperatures are largely contained. The problem is that her body temperature is considerably above the melting point of rock. She's apparently drawing power directly from the sun, so she may lose some of that power during the night."

"Uhm," Mars raised her hand, wondering if this meant what she thought it meant. "So using a Burning Mandala on this particular Titan?"

Pluto answered. "Comparable to throwing a snowball against a glacier wall."

"Gotcha," said Mars, lowering her hand.

"Akuryo Taisan, on the other hand, might have some effect," appended Pluto. "Oddly enough, it is Neptune who would be most effective against Theia. Unfortunately..."

"The good news is that Jupiter's Gunhed and Saturn's Deathscythe Gundam have sufficient thermal shielding and environmental support that they can survive Theia's presence better than an unprotected Senshi. We also have the Mongolian ships," pointed out Mercury.

"Temperatures like that, we'd have trouble with," pointed out Steiner. "Even with charging the armor, the best my ship - the Vindicator - can withstand a few minutes of that sort of temperature at best. Beatrix' ship the Savior is not even that well armored."

"The Savior is capable of speeds 180% better than the Vindicator," pointed out Beatrix. "We can make strafing runs that have a good chance of outrunning this Titan's attacks."

Jupiter gently nudged Venus. "You know how we've been complaining about how little support equipment we've got. That we don't have Talismans or a Mercury Computer or something?"

"I know. This could be our big chance," whispered back Venus, a gleam in her eye. "No waiting for Luna or Artemis to remember some odd detail at the last minute or cough up a power up so that Usagi has to bring us back from the dead."

Venus and Jupiter nodded, each deciding the easiest way to get there was the acquisition of a hunky boy Emperor.

Not-so-sinister plots from various Senshi trying to get an Emperor on their side 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Boy Plans   
by Kender

The armed forces of Mongo were not used to officers or officials wanting to do menial tasks. It was odd to them that someone who was so high up in the structure of things would want to do such common tasks that they didn't want. Plus, it was normal to find some high person who wished to shove tasks that they couldn't be bothered with.

But they were also used to automatically following orders, or, in this case, requests. So even if it was odd, they allowed the Senshi to do as she wanted. She was favored by the Emperor after all.

Not that Makoto saw it that way, which was why she was in the ship's kitchens. After hearing about the Emperor's meal with the Outers, and seeing how he ate snacks, she knew that he was someone to appreciate good cooking. And as she was a cook, she thought that she might try seeing how he liked her food.

That decided, she had gone into the kitchen, and began to create some dishes to please his palate. A little bit of this, and a little bit of that, and he'd get a taste of what she could cook for him. Once he did, then he would want some more, and they could get to talking, which would lead to something more...

Picking up one of the baked treats she had just pulled from the oven, she blushed and giggled. She just couldn't wait to see him eat her muffin!

There were things that even Mongolian soldiers were not prepared to face and that included teenaged girls. That wasn't to say that they weren't ready to fight if some opponent fielded them, but that wasn't what they were facing. Instead of an armed opponent ready to kill them, they were dealing with something ever so much more... unpredictable.

For Minako Aino, a.k.a. Sailor Venus, had found Mongolian fashion. Plus she had discovered that the technology was there to give her any outfit that she might want. Oh it might take a little time, but she could dress up just like any of her favorite stars, real and fictional.

At the moment though, she was more interested in how the fashions of the hunk, er... Emperor's world looked on her. Which was pretty good actually. Still, she told herself that it was to help bridge the gap between worlds. If she wore some of their clothing, it would be easier for them to deal with her. And if they allowed the Emperor to admire her looks, then so much the better!

Having decided to see which would be the best on her, she went and set out to find the Mongolian dress that would be the best for her!

Rei sat in the secluded place where she was waiting until it was time to fight Theia. There wasn't much that she would bring to that sort of fight, but she wasn't about to abandon her friends and allies when they did face the Titan. So, she was just preparing to do what she could to help out.

That included making good luck charms. Some for her friends and some for the Emperor. After all, they could all use it when facing what they were about to. And if any sort of love charms sort of found their way to him... or if there happened to be some special and extra ones for him... well, that would just be wonderful, wouldn't it?

Looking up at her Gundam, Hotaru smiled to herself. It wasn't something that she had expected, but she liked it. The giant mecha was a gift just for her, and as such it was much appreciated.

Just receiving it told her that the person that had given it to her was a really nice guy. He had not had to that sort of thing, but had anyway. Making it a surprise was just icing on the cake.

She supposed that she should go and thank him for the nice gift. It was only polite, and she didn't want to be rude to her new friend. And she was supposed to be the ambassador to them.

Not that it would be a chore. None of the people had been mean to her or called her any names even knowing what she could do. It was a nice feeling, and she was enjoying the chance to have it.

Still, she had to talk to him, and thank him. Perhaps they could talk about other things, though the thought of being in private with him made her blush.

Washing her hands in the ship's head, Ami sighed. Yet another long planning session, and it seemed that they weren't much closer to figuring out how to beat Theia. It was hard going, but every possibility had to be considered as they came up. None seemed totally workable, so they were left with only plans that were going to be very difficult at best. Though she was going to be happy once they did go after the Titan, as it would mean that all of their work would finally go into action.

It wasn't the close quarters that she had a problem with though. Being in a closed room with a cute boy was not something that she was about to deny enjoying. In fact, she might like to spend some time with him doing a comparative study of the differences between Mongo and Earth. That would mean that they would have to spend long periods of time alone together, of course, but she thought that she could handle that.

They could even get to know each other, and become close over the time. She could find out what he liked, and he could discover her interests as well. And it was a documented fact that such close workings did result in the occasional romantic interlude...

 

The Senshi of Ice went into a happy little daydream and blushed... long enough to burn her hands in the hot water as she let them sit. While she tried to deal with the sudden pain,: 

Pig-Iron was on a rampage. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Threads coming together   
by Kestral

Pluto tried to just ignore all the hints being dropped, usually with the subtlety of carpet bombs, that she had many supporters here among the Mongolians.

Which was completely unlike Saturn.

Saturn didn't ignore it, but was a little overwhelming. So many supporters. Little SD pictures of her adorning fighter spacecraft. People smiling and saluting her and addressing her as the future Empress.

Okay, maybe a 'little' overwhelming wasn't the right term. For a girl who had been shunned and bullied most of her life? Whose only friend was a time traveller who only showed up occasionally and wouldn't even be born for another ten years at best? Whose adoptive parents had tried to kill her repeatedly and HAD killed her once? Who was of an age where she had begun to notice boys but knew she'd have all sorts of trouble once they learned her Terrible Secret?

A boy offering to be her friend would have been overwhelming. A boy who knew her Terrible Secret (that she was Sailor Saturn and capable of destroying a planet though that power would kill her as well) and just smiled and shrugged and accepted it? That due to her connection with this boy she now had people supporting her and wanted to see her get married and become their Queen?! People who weren't scared of her? People who genuinely liked her and were openly supportive?

She wasn't sure how to deal with it (other than blushing, fidgeting, and hiding a lot) and was having trouble dealing with some of the changes.

On the other hand, her future husband new friend was certainly handsome and she'd decided fairly early on that she really liked him. So if she lost herself in brief fantasies about weddings where there were violet flowers strewn around the borders, or in which she was a few years older and doing things that made her blush even harder - it was understandable.

The situation was not that different with others.

Ami Mizuno was used to running into typical Japanese sexism. Even if she became a doctor, there were many men who would insist she retire that dream to become a housewife. Same with her identity as Sailor Mercury, even more so. How would she be able to handle her duties as a Senshi along with her duties as a doctor or even studies in medical school?

Ranma Saotome was an option. Untraditional - someone who could potentially accept her without any of the expectations normally associated with Japanese boys. More - the technology and resources at his command could easily get her through medical school. That he was quite physically fit had also been well noted by Ami, who might be a genius and a Sailor Senshi - but she was also a teenage girl and quite able to appreciate his physiology in a manner that wasn't exactly clinical in nature.

Minako Aino was desperate for a guy and saw Ranma as prime grade beefcake, but also beefcake that could benefit her princess. If she caught HIM then she could make sure there was no friction between Mongo and Crystal Tokyo. Well, other than the fun kind. There was a great loneliness and sadness within her and if she could latch onto some happiness - by kami she WOULD!

Makoto Kino saw tall, and a boy who would not find either her martial arts or her height to make her unapproachable. His confidence, his strength, and his skill made him very very attractive to her.

Rei Hino saw someone better (in her opinion at least) than Yuuichiro.

No. Not all that different from Hotaru in some regards.

Beatrix watched her candidate for the throne, saw the way the young girl looked off in the distance, sighed and blushed and watched the Emperor.

"I don't understand, Commander, if she's interested, why doesn't she do anything about it?"

"Because, Dagger, she's royalty, they have to act in a certain manner and go through specific protocols."

"Frustrating," summed up Dagger.

"For us and them, Dagger. For us AND them."

Pluto was able to focus on the job at hand. Which was fortunate.

Oh, to be sure, it was kind of amusing and worth a few photos to see Ranma feeding Haruka and Michiru. And it was worth a few minutes of speculation as to whether either of the two would die from sheer embarrassment when they remembered their behavior later after their memories had returned.

Yet her main speculation was concerned with Hyperion's mate. Theia had released a burst of million degree heat apparently by accident. The rocks and such had weathered it unscathed as the wave of temperature had lasted a mere second. It has nonetheless done enough to the local environment that plants and animals in the immediate vicinity were dead.

Theia was far more dangerous than Hyperion or Hastur, more powerful than even Oceanus. She would be the first real full out test of the allied forces against her.

The best plan they had - it was likely that it wouldn't work.

First they'd distract her with a method similar to how they'd driven Hastur out. Water would get hotter as it came closer to her, eventually becoming superheated steam. Under cover of that steam, the ships would surround her and use their armor polarizers modified to set up a magnetic bottle. Contained within that bottle, they could take her off planet. Maybe Mars. Theia could thaw some other planet out until she destabilized. Resulting no doubt in a solar prominence being released wherever she was.

Pluto sniffed. Muffins?

The mermaid liked the boy. He came by and smiled at her and was all sorts of friendly. He had given her that harp and she felt so much happier as a result. When she'd played the harp he'd gone away briefly but when he'd come back she could tell he was really happy about her playing!

There was the nymph in the other tank who got some attention too. Still, the mermaid knew she could command the greater portion.

Still, why did it feel as if she knew the nymph? Why did it feel as if there was something she needed to remember?

Makoto brought by her muffins, wanting to see that the Emperor tasted them.

Hotaru had finally put her thoughts to paper and was trying to meet the Emperor, where she would try to summon the courage to give him a love letter.

Ami had in her hands a list of projects she'd want to look into, and well, maybe (blush fidget)...

Rei had a nice selection of wards and charms, and if she'd made a few extra for the Emperor... oh well.

Minako had found a Mongolian general's uniform that fit her and was going to ask the Emperor for his opinion.

General Mille's agent among the Mongolian military took careful aim with a blowpipe.

Ranma wondered if this Theia was hot, could they generate cold chi and end up with the mother of all Dragon Ascension Spirals?

Theia continued walking, melting things out of her way.

Ryoga continued to rampage through Tokyo, for once actually heading straight for where he wanted to go - the Tendo Dojo.

Akane and the various other Nerimans watched as "Pigzilla" rampaged through Tokyo. Buses and buildings were being wrecked, the JSSDF sent missiles and gunfire against him to no effect, train tracks were scattered, panic and disorder reigned!

Will the reunion of Pigzilla/Ryoga and the Tendo household be joyous or disastrous? 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Recurring Visitors   
by Kender

There were days that Chibi-Usa wondered about her old friend. Pluto had been around ever since before the little princess had been born, but she was not always easy to read. Most of the time she could know how she was going to react, but there were points at which she couldn't understand why the Senshi of Time was doing something.

Just like what was happening now. She did like the idea of going and seeing her parents, Hotaru and the others, but trying to get an explanation about why she was getting sent got her a long speech about 'paradoxes', 'path changes' and 'needed events'. It had gone on so long that her eyes had nearly crossed from the confusion.

In the end, she had just given up on finding out the 'why' and went, with the suspicion that had been Pluto's plan all along.

So she was a bit disgruntled as she dropped to the ground after her time travel. Pulling herself off of the ground, she dusted herself off, and set out to find her mother, who was supposed to be nearby. And as luck would have it, the Senshi were close.

She just hoped that nothing else unexpected would happen...

Akane Tendo liked pigs. She really did, though not as much as some. Her pet was one, and she thought that they could be cute. Hers was, and she loved to cuddle up with it when she went to sleep.

But she couldn't find something to enjoy with the one that she was watching on the television.

"I really think that we should be elsewhere..," commented Nabiki to the sound of crashes in the distance.

"But why?" Kasumi asked.

"Because sister dear, we're in the path of that thing, and I for one don't want to be here when it decided to take out the neighborhood."

"Just let it try!" Akane declared with a bokken left over from a bashing of Kuno gripped in her hands.

"Then you face the giant unstoppable monster. I'll be watching from my hotel room."

"You'd leave your family in its hour of need?" demanded Soun.

"No... I'd like to save it from itself. My plan is for all of us to find a nice room to rent before it comes."

*BOOM! CRASH!*

"And I would think that would be it now."

"Well then," the youngest Tendo daughter pronounced, "I'll have to go and stop it myself!"

Kasumi bit her lip. "Do you think that is wise?"

"It's the only thing to do!"

*WHAM!* *BASH!* *BOOM!*

"Well, I suppose that we can forget that whole 'inherit the dojo' thing..." Nabiki drawled.

"Why is that?" her older sister asked.

"Because there is no dojo any more..."

"MY DOJO!" screeched the family patriarch.

"Don't worry!" Akane declared, "I'll stop it!"

"Oh really?" the middle Tendo daughter drawled.

"Watch me!" came the reply. She ran out into the yard and at the monster. "Get ready to get beaten, you stupid monster freak!"

Ryouga heard the yell, but with the ringing in his ears from all the jerks attacking him, he couldn't tell what it was saying. But as he turned, he spotted his beloved Akane running towards him. He put out his arms for a welcoming hug.

She saw it, and determined that the monster was going to try to grab her. Deciding that she wasn't about to fall for that, she leapt up and over the creature, twisting in mid-air so that she could hit it as she came down. The strike hit where she aimed it perfectly.

Unfortunately, the bokken shattered on impact and left her with only a stump in her hands.

Landing lightly, she glanced at her ruined weapon and back to the monster while: 

trying to come up with the next move in her fight. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Go into the light   
by Kestral

Akane stared at the shattered bits of bokken.

Pigzilla tried to grab Akane, he could calm her down and explain this.

Akane felt the monster's hands close around her. The ungiving iron crushing her body despite her struggles.

Soun's sobs ended. His baby girl was about to become pulp friction?!

"HOW DARREEEEE YOUUUUU!" This was the Ultimate Attack Of The Tendo School. The Demon Head Of Outrage was the first step.

Now standing in samurai armor, Soun stood eye to eye with the horrific beast, brandishing his weapons and prepared to defend his home.

Ryoga, aka Pigzilla, involuntarily squeezed tighter around Akane as this new challenger rose.

Akane made a squeaking noise as blackness rose up all around her.

Soun tried to attack. Pigzilla swatted him, knowing that he had to get Akane to safety. Those tanks and aircraft would be coming!

BOOM!. Too late.

"Go into the light. There is peace and serenity in the light."

Akane looked around. Tunnel of light. Her mother's voice urging her forward. Uh oh. "No..."

"There is joy and comfort in the light."

There was the big monster. There was her father. There was Kasumi wringing her hands and saying something inane about the lawn needing more iron anyway.

There was Nabiki on a bicycle. My goodness, she was fast. Almost out of the district already.

There was Cologne and Shampoo and Ukyo coming to avenge her and fight the Big Pig. That was nice. Where was Ranma in all of this though? Was he waiting for her in the light?

Just as thinking about Nabiki had brought her gaze to Nabiki, Akane thought about Ranma and her gaze found Ranma.

Well, how about that? Ranma was alive after all. The aliens that had kidnapped him hadn't eaten his liver after all. He was...

he was hanging around with some new girls?! He'd been kidnapped by cheerleaders?! That... that... Casanova! He probably had caused this all himself!

The celestial choir wound down to nothing and the tunnel of light faded.

"THAT JERK! After I was all concerned about him being eaten by aliens, there he is flirting around with 'Bimbos From Outer Space'!" Akane fumed, the feelings of peace and contentment fading.

"I have some poultices and herbs that will ease her pain and allow her to heal faster," admitted Cologne. "I thought that we were too late but something got her fighting spirit going and that pulled her back to this world."

Kasumi made a comment but it was drowned out by the fighter jets hurling missiles at Pigzilla again.

Cologne nodded. "She'll be fine with some rest."

Kasumi made another comment but the machine guns from some combat helicopters drowned it out.

"Somehow a spatula feels rather inadequate," said Ukyo as she watched Pigzilla pull itself out of the wreckage of the former Tendo house.

Kasumi nodded and said something else but the tanks fired a volley at that moment, so nobody heard what she said.

"We have room you can stay at under the Cat Cafe. You wouldn't mind a little time waitressing would you?" Cologne asked.

Kasumi opened her mouth, hesitated a moment as if she expected something to happen, then shrugged as the Tesla dish equipment of the JSSDF began firing electrical attacks at Pigzilla.

"Shampoo find uniform that fit Nice-nice Girl, is no problem," Shampoo assured Kasumi. "That way you also keep eye on Violent Pervert Girl, yes?"

Kasumi began to say something but another jet flyby occurred and she finally just shrugged and nodded.

They watched as Pigzilla ran forward and absorbed the mass of two tanks as the crews frantically bailed out.

"Maybe we should get further away?" Cologne suggested, being the voice of reason and moderation in this situation.

Meanwhile, the various girls are flirting with Ranma... 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: One Way Chat   
by Kender

For Ranma, he didn't know what to make of the situation he was in. Normally when he was in the middle of a group of girls, he would wind up with either declarations of love, wishes of declarations of love from him, some sort of violence, or a combination of all three. What he wasn't used to was having girls trying to talk to him, but not trying to force anything on him. Which was great, since they were nice girls, and weren't trying to get him to date them.

Not that he was familiar enough with the concept of the 'shy schoolgirl' to realise that they were trying to do that. Besides, he was too busy at the moment to notice even if he had.

"These are really good!" he declared as he took a bite out of a baked goodie that he'd just been given.

"Really?!" said Makoto happily as she watched him taste what she had so lovingly prepared. "You really like eating my muffin?"

A soldier nearby choked in the middle of taking a drink, and the young man frowned concernedly in his direction. When he saw that the private was fine, he turned back to the young woman who'd given him the food. "Yeah. This is some of the best stuff I've ever eaten."

Pleased with what he'd told her, she blushed heavily as she smiled. "Thank you!"

"What about my outfit?" Minako asked hopefully as she posed for his view.

"I'm not too sure about the outfit, but ya manage ta make it look good."

The Senshi of Love preened at his praise. "I'm glad that you like it."

Handing over a handful of wards, Rei nodded at the Emperor. "These are just for you."

"Hmm?" went the pigtailed boy as he took them, "What are they for?"

"Good luck, good fortune and repelling evil. That sort of thing."

"Hey, that's real good of ya, and I could use that sort of stuff. And from what I heard, they gotta work great. Thanks."

"Ummm..," went a supremely blushing Hotaru as she held out an envelope, "Here..."

"What's this?"

"A...a... note. For you."

"For me? Cool. I'll have ta keep it safe, cause I don't want ta lose it."

"I would like some.... time with you to discuss some projects that I have in mind," Ami put in.

Ranma blinked at her. "'Projects'?"

"Yes. There are some things that I believe that we can do together... well."

"If ya say so, but it'll have ta be for a while, 'cause from what I can tell ya are a lot smarter than me. But that's can only be good, right?"

Pluto stood on the edge of the group and tried not to rub her temples.

General Mille's agent looked over the group and wondered when a clear shot would show itself.

Usagi watched and recognised that her friends were interested in this boy. Well that was a job for Matchmaker Usagi! She'd do whatever that she could to help her friends land the hunk!

She was even planning that, when she heard a familiar voice. "Hey! Hello!"

The Moon Princess turned towards the source of the sound, wondering why it sounded so familiar and saw something that took her a few moments to recognise. The red eyes were familiar, but it was the pink hair that she placed first. "Chibi-Usa?!"

"That's me!" said the time traveller.

Her future mother blinked and looked over at the: 

little girl who while apparently the same age, was different in style. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Interrogating a Small Lady   
by Kestral

The sight of Chibi-usa had caused the Senshi to retreat from the new boy.

Why? Because Chibi-usa had changed. Chibi-usa was from the future so if she had changed, the future had changed, right?

If the future had changed it was either because of Ranma or the Titans, right?

So they were off interrogating Chibi-usa while Ranma met with three of his military commanders who had come to suspect something.

Ranma stared at Beatrix and then at Steiner. His reaction to the revelation was simple, straightforward, and completely without artifice. "Ya gotta be shittin' me."

Beatrix shook her head. "No, Emperor, it is simply the truth. I had suspected that you didn't know the full story but everyone I knew simply believed you were playing it cool."

"So how can I get out of this? I don't want no seraglio. Hell, I had enough trouble just with three fiancees and a deranged lunatic." Ranma confirmed his displeasure with the concept.

"I thought as much, unfortunately, it is a tradition of Emperors," admitted Beatrix.

"Oh," said Ranma, reluctant to just fix things with the Great Will. It was his secret weapon right now, pulling it out all the time didn't seem right. "Any way to just send 'em home?"

"That would be - difficult," said Steiner.

"Since they are all representatives of their respective high families, that would be insulting their families - their moons - and their honor," Beatrix added. "That would not be well received."

Ranma worked at it and figured that meant they'd pull a Ryoga on him. Got it. "How about if I change the job description then?"

"The current story is that this emergency on your homeworld and settling into the new office has kept you from dealing with these responsibilities," provided Beatrix. "Add to this the idea that you might be selecting an Empress someday..."

"Which we might be able to use," grumbled General Grimm. The rocky Volcanian didn't understand this human need for mating. Once a decade was good enough for him, his father, his father's father and so on. Why screw up perfectly good working relationships with that sort of thing?

"Use his search for an Empress?" Steiner thought about it, beginning to smile. "Yes. I see."

Ranma sulked. It looked like he might be able to get out of his Earth based engagements but would end up with one anyway. "No way to get out of marryin' anyone altogether, huh?"

"Your subjects would see a marriage as a sign of stability, something we haven't had a lot of but have been looking for," admitted Grimm. "A formal engagement would work to stall off the duties to the seraglio - and perhaps due to the peculiar Earth customs of your bride, you could then make the seraglio into her personal guard instead."

"Good idea," said Beatrix.

"Indeed, most clever," agreed Steiner.

Ranma continued to sulk. "I'm not that thrilled with the idea of marrying someone I don't know."

"Ahem," said Steiner, coughing into his fist. "I believe I have the solution to that. We float the rumor that the Empress candidate has duties that she must discharge or find a replacement for before moving on with her life."

"OR," put in Beatrix, "that she is too young by the laws of your origin culture and must further graduate their educational system."

"Okay, Chibi-usa-chan," said Ami speaking in an extremely focussed manner. "You came from the future to tell us something. Right?"

"Uhm no," said Chibi-usa. "Mamo-chan just got back from a tour of some of our allied kingdoms and Usagi sent me here because she wanted some quality time. Meanie. I hadn't seen Mamo-chan in four whole weeks."

"'Allies'?" Minako picked up on this quickly. "Would Mongo be one of those allies, Chibi-usa-chan?!"

"Why is everyone staring at me like that?" Chibi-usa asked nervously.

"Small Lady, you know not to reveal too much of the future," began Setsuna, deliberately not mentioning that part of the staring was because her hairstyle and clothes were less cutesy and more practical than usual.

"Yeah, you made me pinky swear not to say who married Ranma and lots of stuff," complained Chibi-usa.

"Chibi-usa-chan," said Hotaru timidly. "We would really like to know..."

"But I can't!" Chibi-usa complained. "I even spoke to Granny."

"There's a 'Granny'?" Usagi asked in disbelief. "How did that happen?"

"I'm not even supposed to tell you about the mess happening back in Japan," whined Chibi-usa.

The Senshi watch Nerima getting ironed out. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Watching The News   
by Kender

"Hold on a second," Rei said with a frown, "What 'mess happening back in Japan'?"

Chibi-Usa's eyes widened as she realised what she had blurted out. "Nuh-uh. There's no mess. Nothing at all to worry about."

Which told Ami and the others that the opposite was true. "Is there something that we should look at back home?" the juku student asked.

"Uhhh... no...."

"Chibi-Usa..."

"Oh come on... It's not like anything is happening in Nerima..."

Makoto shook her head and looked towards the ship that had brought them to Greece. "Hey! Wedge!"

The soldier stuck his head out of the ship at the call. "Yes?"

"Can you get us some news reports from back in Japan?"

"Sure. Just a moment to shift the receiver's frequencies."

"Good," she replied and went with the other Senshi to see what the reports would tell them.

"You don't have to do that..," the pink haired girl told them hopefully.

"Yes, we do," Minako told her just as they arrived in the cabin.

On the screen was an attractive woman holding a microphone and standing in front of what looked to be a military camp with soldiers running around in the background.

"You know, this might be a bad idea..."

"Oh really?" Setsuna asked archly.

Realising that she wasn't about to get them to stop, Chibi-Usa sat down to watch and hoped that she hadn't messed things up too badly...

"This is Kana Ishihara," the reporter said with an edge of intensity in her voice, "on site for what has been called one of the biggest disasters here in Japan, if not the world. I am standing at the Self Defense Forces field headquarters for the emergency. Located at the remains of what used to be Furinkan High School.

"Several hours ago, a creature of immense strength and toughness came out of the sea and began heading straight through the country, leaving a trail of destruction after it. But until now it had only been in the single line of where it was going. However, it seems to have centered on this ward, and looks to be intent on destroying it.

"We have a live feed of the monster in action."

The image changed to one of ruined buildings, cratered streets, and what looked to be a cross between a man and a pig on steroids.

It stood amongst the buildings, roaring incoherently and raising its fists at the passing jets as their missiles exploded harmlessly against its body. One massive hand swung at them, and as they swerved out of the way, it went through a building, taking out several floors with it.

"At this point," came the reporter's voice, "all efforts to stop or drive this giant away have met with nothing but failure. It seems that this behemoth is too powerful for the regular forces, but sources do say that the government is bringing out special forces to try and do something about the current situation.

"However, nearly half of the ward has been demolished, and there are reports of another creature spotted in combat with the monster, but they are unconfirmed as of this moment. Most residents are evacuating, and the government is asking that any who have not done so, to do the same."

"Okay..," went Rei, "that's a really large pig."

"You're right about that," Makoto said with a nod.

Ami frowned. "It does seem to be a major disaster caused by a creature, in both size and strength. Could it be a Titan?"

That got a head shake from Setsuna. "None of them were quite like that..."

"Then perhaps it is related?"

"It can't be said for certain, but it is likely that it is."

"So what do we do about it," Minako asked as she watched the giant pig-man step on some fancy mansion and a boy in a blue outfit come out to yell and wave a stick at it.

The Senshi looked at each other while: 

they tried to figure out what they could do. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Chibi-usa slips up again   
by Kestral

Ryoga had started absorbing iron, which healed him and made him bigger, mostly by accident.

After awhile though, it had become ridiculously easy as he'd accidentally smash buildings and thereby come into contact with support beams and the like - and more mass would be added.

Currently two hundred feet in height, Ryoga swatted at jets as they fired missiles at him and incidentally causing lots more damage to his immediate environment.

As for Tatewaki Kuno, well, upon the destruction of stately Kuno manor - he had attacked.

Ryoga stepped on him.

The end result of which had been that the Blue Thunder had been embedded in the pavement.

Sasuke was running around trying to find enough dynamite to free his master when Kodachi clawed her way out of the rubble and demanded someone pay for this insult.

"Why are they playing 'Godzilla' movie music in the background?" asked Ami.

"Oh, I don't know. Giant pig monster attacking the city, smashing things up, maybe it just seemed appropriate," suggested Minako. "Hey! Maybe if we sing to it we can calm it down and convince it not to menace anyone!"

"It's not Mothra or Gamera," pointed out Makoto.

"You think you could take it out?" Rei asked Makoto. "Judging from the effect of the napalm, I'm guessing that fire isn't that effective."

"No, they're using some kind of electrical generators too, and it's just grounding out as soon as it hits him," noted Makoto. "An Oak Evolution might work but that's an awful big monster... of course!"

"What?" Rei asked.

"Hey," Makoto said as she punched an intercom button. "How soon can we get everyone else's giant robots here?"

"That's a good i..." Hotaru blinked. Had that been Haruka-papa walking past the door, naked, dripping water? No. Of course not. It had just been too stressful today.

On the television, white parachutes could be seen drifting in the background as the giant pig crushed buildings (tried to get away from the missile firing planes) in an apparently random pattern (gotten lost again) up until he started derailing trains.

"We've got to stop him!" Makoto declared.

"How? Sailor Teleport? We're down Neptune and Uranus and we can't teleport the giant robots," pointed out Rei. "If we teleport we get there in time, but don't have the heavy artillery. We take the heavy artillery and we've got an hour's drive in which case Theia might be able to free what's his name."

"Typhon," supplied Setsuna, looking unhappy.

"Maybe I should have just waited at home," said Chibi-usa.

"True," said Setsuna, coming as close as she'd ever been to cross with her Small Lady.

"Well, it could be worse, I could have told them about Gran... Never mind!"

"That's right, you mentioned a 'Granny' before," said Usagi speculatively.

"Please don't start throwing out paradoxes," pleaded Setsuna to the heavens.

"Granny?" Ami asked. "Is that why your clothes and hairstyle are so..."

"Something wrong with my uniform?" Chibi-usa picked at her clothing. "Granny said it was nice."

It was nice. It was a jumper that looked like it had sewn in padding at elbows and knees. Combined with a hairstyle that had no odango showing, instead being braided back - it was obviously Chibi-usa but also not Chibi-usa.

"So... your 'Granny' helped you with that outfit?" Ami asked.

"She's not my real grandmother of course, she just likes it when I call her that," said Chibi-usa. "Oh waitaminute. I'm not supposed to tell..."

"Is it too much to ask for a little more focus - like on the problem of Theia?" asked Setsuna. 

Be vewy vewy quiet. Naked nymph Haruka is hunting a pwaymate. hahahahaha. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Hunting Friends   
by Kender

Ryoga stood amongst the wreckage and wondered what was going on. He'd been trying to get back to Akane to apologise for what he had done, but as he looked, all these attackers kept on getting in the way. Instead of being able to get to apologise to her, he'd been forced to fight all these tanks and jets.

But somehow and someway he'd get back to her and explain what had happened. They couldn't keep moving the Dojo on him, and he knew that sooner or later he would catch up to it. It wasn't something that he would let stop him, even if he was finding that the buildings were getting smaller. Which was odd, but they must have been getting to someplace that they were building them that way.

Feeling a pin prick against his back, he turned and looked, only to see yet another stolen tank shooting him. He wondered who it was that could have taken them, but he knew that he needed to keep himself free of them. If he couldn't, then Akane would be in grave danger when he found her again.

So he tried his hardest to get away from his attackers, so that he could find her before it was too late!

The sea nymph walked down the corridor and looked all around for her playmate. She had been seeking him out because she had seen him look so upset earlier, and so she wanted to make him happy. He had made her happy after all, and she needed to return the favor.

That was easier said than done, as she hadn't found him anywhere. There were simply so many places to look that she hadn't gone to yet. But she wasn't about to give up, and she really liked the nice boy who had been so nice to her. Besides, it was like having a game of 'Hide and Seek' going on. And when that was done and she found him, then she could play with the boy and let him play with her!

The thought just made her feel happier and but a bit of a bounce in her head as she looked around for him, while: 

she was soon to find him. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Councilor Slipe's plans   
by Kestral

The sea nymph walked along the corridors, sniffing at the corridors, then scampered when she finally caught the scent.

Unfortunately, by that time she needed to be reintroduced to her water tank.

Fortunately General Grimm was able to advise Emperor Ranma of that when the sea nymph bounced up to the Emperor and started gasping for breath.

Haruka's return trip to the tank was a lot faster and in her simple child's mind she knew that her friend had just saved her life.

What this would mean when Haruka the sea nymph became Haruka Tenou was anyone's guess.

Councilor Slipe, the equivalent of a sub-general and in charge of closet space for Sky City, was a five foot tall weasel. Literally. If you took a weasel, increased the size to five feet, shifted the hips so that it could spend more time walking bipedally, increased the dexterity of feet and hands, increased the brain-to-mass ratio, removed the scent glands, stuffed him into a uniform that kind of looked like something a WWI German field marshall would wear, and stuck a monocle in front of one eye - you'd have something pretty darn close to Councilor Slipe.

The reason for his job was, nobody else wanted it, and he'd generally schmoozed his way into the position years ago when it was obvious that the previous administration had NOT allowed sufficient space for closets and storage rooms. The project to add them had been a terribly long one but finished about the time that the Emperor Whose Name Is Not Mentioned died.

At which point everyone was used to him bringing baklava to the board meetings and mixing martinis in the supply closet, and nobody had realized yet that Councilor Slipe's project was over with except for three forms that he somehow never got around to filling out.

Councilor Slipe was by trade - an architectural engineer. What he was after living through Yan's rule and the Unnamed brief Emperorship - was a fixture of the palace. Many referred to him as a Toady Worm, but he remembered surviving under Yan. When you keep your head while those around you are losing theirs - literally - it was a survival skill.

Slipe observed things around him, and sought to make things better for the Empire. He was only five years away from retirement and if he retired in a strong empire where he could sit on a back porch and sample strong homemade alcoholic beverages (his race - the Veiser - were accomplished brewers and distillers) to his heart's content - that was ideal.

Slipe was wondering at these other princesses, but he remained a supporter of the young Princess Saturn. The current Emperor was kind and honorable, but a bit rough and lacking in social graces. Saturn, on the other hand, was kind and gentle, shy but cultured. Saturn was also apparently quite powerful as was the Emperor. With Saturn as Empress, the Empire of Mongo could enter an entirely new age.

Which led Slipe to wonder how he could get Saturn and the Emperor together. Tricky. Very tricky.

He, unlike two fathers, had as a goal a happy Empress and a happy Emperor. If he didn't know darn well Saturn-chan wanted something of this, and he didn't think the Emperor could be convinced by Saturn, he'd have given it up and backed someone else. Having a mate was a sign of stability, after all - and Mongo really needed some stability.

So Slipe finally decided how he'd try to get Princess and Emperor together would be through: 

Just subtly suggest something to the Emperor about the possibility and watch for reactions. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Bouncing Suggestions   
by Kender

Slipe knew that any of the Emperors could see anything that was in front of them, but how they interpreted that information was different for each one. There was a major difference between them, where one might have wanted to shoot the individual to suggest something, to another who might act on what his ministers told him. It was that difference that had reinforced the councilor's need to work methodically. Besides, trapping them together during a crisis could be dangerous. And he wanted to make certain to know how to proceed before going on to talking to Saturn.

So, he waited and made himself seem needed while he had looked for a moment to go for it, like when he had followed his Emperor back after returning the sea nymph to her tank.

"It seems that she really likes you, My Emperor," commented Slipe.

Ranma shrugged. "I guess, but she coulda really hurt herself doin' that."

"Perhaps she did not think that it would take that long."

"Maybe."

"But that is the way of women. Come to think of it, those that are with her seem to be getting along with you quite well."

"Well, yeah..," the Emperor replied, "They haven't done anything too bad so far."

"Save attacking that water giant."

"There's that, but those two got transformed for it."

"And you even take care of them afterwards."

"That's the only thing that I could do."

"I'm sure that they and their friends appreciate that. Like that Saturn girl."

"'Saturn'?"

Looking properly impressed, Slipe nodded. "Oh yes. After all, you gave her a magnificent gift and then helped her friends... She must be truly appreciative."

"Could be, but she ain't said anything."

"She does not seem the forward type, but that could be a good thing. Like if she were to say... become some sort of ruler, she could listen without needing to be heard, and think of others over herself."

"Yeah... That'd be great."

"Yes it would. And I'm sure that she would give you some sort of return on any attentions that you might give her."

"What are ya..," the pigtailed boy said, "Oh crap!"

"Is something the matter?"

"She gave me a note to read!"

"That is wonderful news, is it not?"

"Yup, but I've gotta read it at least. Wouldn't be fair otherwise."

"No, it wouldn't. So you are going to rush to read her note?"

"Definitely, but I gotta figure out how to deal with this."

"Perhaps flowers in return."

"Hey... that'd be a good idea."

"Why, thank you."

"You're welcome. I'd been thinking about how to answer her thank you note."

"'Thank you note'?" the Counselor asked.

Nodding, Ranma groaned. "I haven't read it yet, but that's gotta be what it is right? She's only tryin' ta be polite."

"I suppose so..."

"But I can't leave her note unread. So I gotta get goin'."

"If that is what you wish, My Emperor."

"Thanks. It'll only take a bit," came the reply.

Watching his ruler go, Slipe sighed while: 

Ranma went to read the note. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Reading between lines   
by Kestral

Ranma read the note. Ranma frowned.

Ranma read the note again. Ranma scowled.

Ranma read the note a third time. Ranma scratched his head.

"What the heck is this?" the Emperor of Mongo exclaimed.

"What the heck is what?! Oh EMPEROR!" The deckhand left off where he was swabbing and saluted. (CLANG!)

"You okay?" Ranma asked the humanoid rat in the pirate outfit.

"...remember to take off the control glove before I salute..." the rat stuck his head up. "I'll live, great and glorious Emperor whose grace outshines the misty marsh lights of-"

"Cut it out!" Ranma said loudly. Not yelling but not happy either. "Yeesh. I'm not Ming on Yan. I ain't gonna go around cutting tails off cause ya ain't singing my praises."

"I have heard that, your excellency, but old habits, they die hard."

Ranma thought about that and could see the point.

"Uhm, so, great Emperor. What was it that you could not identify?" The rat asked while bowing repeatedly.

"This. I got a letter from that Saturn gal."

"The one who watches you and has that sparkly soft lighting thing going?" The rat nodded. "Okay. I know which one."

Ranma blinked, then shrugged. Who could figure? Yeah, well it's her thank you letter, I can't make heads or tails out of it."

"Oh," said the rat. "I'm pretty good at that sort of thing."

Ranma handed it off to the rat, curious. "You're a janitor, right?"

"Yes. I have survived through three Emperors now. Even the one whose name we do not speak." The rat quickly scanned through. "Ah. This is written in one of the human languages. Japanese. Very interesting."

"Oh, you can't read it?" Ranma was a little disappointed. Of course an alien couldn't read Japanese.

"Is okay, I have translator," said the rat, putting a monocle over one eye. "Hmmmm. Yes. Ah hah. So. Very interrrresting."

"You know what she's going on about?" Ranma asked.

"Yes. I understand this. It's a fanmail."

"A what?" Ranma was understandably not familiar with the concept.

"A letter to state... how do I say. My species is not very like your own," said the rat, trying to think. "Okay. You are very heroic, very commanding figure now. So she say she admire you very much, yes? She want you to know she like you and is interested in your well being."

"Oh, that's strange. Nice but strange." Ranma nodded. "So I'll send her flowers as a nice gesture!"

"Glad to be of help," said the rat, turning back to his duty. No matter if it was a good Emperor or a bad Emperor, after all - they all wanted clean decks.

Ryouga roared in rage as another scattering of missiles exploded against his massive metal body.

Akane was around here somewhere though, and he was going to find her!

"That's bad," said Minako.

"We've got another ship incoming, it's moving slow and it's got the mecha for Uranus and Neptune," announced one of the female soldiers who'd been eyeing their uniforms and wondering if she should have one made. "Jupiter has the Gunhed and Saturn has the Gundam so it should assist you when you fight them."

"Except that neither Uranus or Neptune are in any condition to pilot a giant robot," pointed out Venus.

"There's this Theia and then there's Pigzilla. How can we fight both?" Mars asked.

General Mille had wanted a way to bypass the magical defenses of one of these Sailor Princesses and have them as seraglio members. In fact, they'd be happy seraglio members sure to recommend the lifestyle. General Mille's reasons for this were twofold. First, she was into tradition and the tradition of the Emperor's seraglio had been established through several rulers. Second, and the most important, was that if the seraglio tradition was dropped in favor of a single Empress - she'd be out of a job.

It was really a pity that the idea of holding off on the seraglio and shifting the duties to an honor guard hadn't reached her, as it allowed for job security and would have reduced the need for extreme measures.

General Mille's agent on the Savior had a blowgun and a dart that had been designed to infiltrate those defenses and then use them to enforce the required mindset. She was to target Sailor Saturn, who was deemed the most likely candidate to take that Empress position.

However, the conditions had changed more rapidly than General Mille could have known, and the agent had found another problem. Not only did every clear shot end up getting blocked, there were a whole slew of potential Empress candidates getting involved at this point!

Still, the agent knew that if she failed, she might well be part of the expedition to a world they'd named Tartarus. A world from which nothing had returned alive or intact beyond simple landing craft.

While the agent herself was a fairly attractive young lady who was considered a fairly knowledgeable member of the scientific staff, the idea of going off and exploring Tartarus gave her the curious desire to just open an airlock in deep space and be done with it rather than report such a failure.

What was worse was the conflict. Having met the young potential Empress, she'd been impressed with her polite refinement and had to admit that she would make a good Empress. She genuinely liked this girl named Saturn, which made the whole prospect of hitting her with a magical attack designed to make her an enthusiastic harem girl a bit of a moral dilemma.

The agent consoled herself with the idea that it might not work anyway. It might only have a partial effect. It might just make the attraction the young girl felt towards the Emperor stronger. As long as she hit the target, she would have at least given it her best effort. Which might be small comfort if she was ripped apart by kuei, but it was something she could use to plead her case.

Yet there they all were together. All nine of these princesses of the other kingdom, including some pink-haired young girl she'd never seen before. Looking over the mermaid's tank.

Taking careful aim at Saturn-ohime, the agent took her best aim and shot the projectile forward, only someone moved!

It bounces into the tank and the mermaid swallowed it? Now what?! 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Water Hazard   
by Kender

The agent had a perfect shot aimed at Saturn as she stood there looking. Everything had been aimed perfectly so that the single shot would hit her and General Mille's plan would be so much closer to reality. It was something that she wasn't entirely happy about, but she had to do it.

And as she watched the projectile go, she felt almost certain that she had accomplished her mission.

"Ooooh... oops... Sorry Saturn-chan."

What she hadn't counted on was Moon loosing her footing for a bit and bumping into the target.

"It's okay," Saturn replied.

'No, it's not,' thought the agent as she watched the projectile struck a crate behind what had been where Saturn had been standing, and bounced off. It fell into the water with a plop, and the passing mermaid accidently swallowed it as she swam by.

The agent spent several moments imagining the possible things that General Mille would do to her, while: 

Ranma sent Hotaru the gift of flowers. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Oh no, there goes To-ki-o.   
by Kestral

The mermaid gagged momentarily on the odd bauble that had been tossed into the water. How very odd.

The "bauble" had been made to interact with a Sailor transformation. The problem was that Sailor Neptune had no memory of being anything other than a mermaid at the moment.

Reaction: none. No Sailor transformation meant the enchantment had nothing to hook onto, therefore the mermaid only had some slight stomach discomfort as she swum around.

Well, no reaction to the mermaid.

The agent of General Mille, on the other hand, was considering abandoning ship after faking an accident that had claimed her life. Going back to report failure was not a viable option.

Jason Fox watched the TV and boggled. "Giant iron pigs running around Japan, yelling 'Where's the Scarlet?' and crushing things underfoot? Why can't we get something like that?"

"It's just special effects," said his brother Peter. "It's like those giant monsters in Italy they were showing. Or did you hack into the CNN newsfeeds again?"

"If only I'd thought of it," protested Jason. "It's so beautifully metaphorical!"

"You're scary sometimes," said Peter, leaving it at that.

Now over 300 feet (100 meters) tall, Pigzilla roared his frustration at not being able to find Akane.

Behind him the hastily evacuated buildings crashed to the earth. Under him, minor earthquakes shifted rail lines and cut phone and power lines in his passage. Around him were the ruins of Shinjuku.

Against him was whatever forces the Japanese could throw at him. Helicopters and jet fighters pummelled at him with little result.

"WHERE IS AKANE?!" roared Ryoga with enough force to shatter windows. "WHO MOVED THE TENDO DOJO?!"

He didn't even notice as he stepped on a rail line and the steel was drawn into his body. It had gotten so the sensation was so familiar it was normal.

"General Takamoto, it is time."

"Do we dare use this weapon, even now?" The General demanded. "What of the effect on the environment? That's all we need is those Greenpeace subversives having yet another excuse to start messing with our fishing fleets and drumming up more stupid UN regulations designed mainly to cripple our economy."

"It is as you say, however the damage to Shinjuku alone will take more than our GNP for the next five years. This is also the fifth ward that the monster has gone through," said the scientist. "At some point you have to weigh the damages and decide which is worst."

"I know," said the General. "Fine. I'll do it. May history be merciful."

Jiro Azari was a low level flunkie. It was in his job description. He knew that he was supposed to go to level 5-D-34 and give these flowers to Princess Saturn.

However he also knew that the Emperor wasn't too understanding about women. He'd met the Emperor. It was probably the highpoint of his career.

If the Emperor sent one girl flowers and didn't send the rest of them flowers, it would royally zark off all the other Princesses. He knew darn well what had happened to his love life when he'd forgotten to get flowers for his girlfriend on her birthday. He hadn't even known it was her birthday! He was STILL persona non grata as far as she was concerned.

So Jiro Azari, PFC, bunkmate of Firstenburg, immediately delivered the glow flowers to Princess Saturn. Then got some nice vase of Blue Amarinthe flowers to Princess Mercury. Some crimson water blooms for Princess Mars. A few yellow moonbelle in a ribbon for Princess Venus. Green roses for Princess Jupiter. Sapphire styrra in a bouquet for that stiff looking Princess Pluto. Finally some pale sandaron for Princess Moon.

It took him awhile, but he finally got all of them (except the two in tanks) their flowers.

Feeling a sense of accomplishment now that disaster was averted, Jiro went on to finish his shift.

Air raid sirens began going off.

Ryoga was glad. Maybe that meant that everyone was finally done bothering him and he could go save Akane.

Oh wait a minute. They were sending some kind of flying tank at him? Were they kidding or something?

"AAHHHHH!" Minako said, pointing at the screen. "Look at what that thing did to Tokyo!"

"I'm not sure we can take it on with our giant robots," agreed Makoto.

Emperor Ranma reluctantly nodded. "We'll have to leave the Titans alone for now. General Steiner, General Beatrix, stay behind and try to find a way to stall the Titan. Everyone else, set course for Japan."

What kind of misconceptions do flowers bring? 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Racing Time   
by Kender

The air crackled with an intensity in the bridge of the ship as they made the journey to Japan. Each of them knew that something dangerous was waiting for them, but for those born there it was with a special pain. They had been born and lived there, knew people there and had memories of that place. Now it was being ruined by a giant monster and they didn't know what was left.

Setsuna watched as they moved along and wondered exactly how this sort of thing happened. She had many theories, but no real facts. About the only good thing that this had brought for her was that it had kept her from having to figure out what to do about the flowers that she had been given.

Minako scowled at the viewscreen long after the image of the monster was gone. For the first time in a long time she had a chance to get a cute boy who wasn't possessed, to be used as a hostage, working for the bad guys or interested in someone else, and now this had to happen. He'd even sent her the most beautiful of blossoms. She was going to show this creature what happened when someone attacked innocents and got in the way of true love.

Leaning against the wall, Makoto looked deceptively at ease, but one look at her eyes and the way that her arms were crossed over her chest, and one would note her anger. She had finally found a boy who not only wasn't put off by her size and strength, but had sent her flowers! But then this had to happen and they were off to fight a major battle in the ruins of her home city. It just wasn't fair...

Keeping herself looking dignified was important for Hotaru, but inside she was trembling. Yet she knew that her sort of power might just be useful in this sort of fight. Not only did her friends have care about her, but as the latest gift from the Emperor showed, he did as well. So, while she was a scared girl, she was a scared girl who wasn't about to let them down.

Going over the battle data let Ami do something, but she still felt a bit impotent. She had little clue as to exactly how they would stop a creature who'd just leveled much of Tokyo. Still, she knew that there had to be something that they could do. And remembering that little gift that she had recently received gave her a little hope that she was being remembered in the crowd.

Rei wondered if the temple was alright, and if her grandfather... and his apprentice... were okay. Her only solace in the possibility of it being otherwise was that this Emperor was there if she needed him. He was nice enough to gift her with flowers, so perhaps he was good enough to help her if the worst was to happen...

Usagi sniffled and hoped that her Mamo-chan, family, friends and neighbors were all right. Ever since she had become Sailor Moon she had fought against just this sort of thing happening, and now that it did, she was terrified that everything would be gone. For once, she actually wanted the problem of having to deal with the obvious gift of affection that the Emperor had given him. He was cute, but she had her Mamo-chan. Still, it was nice to know that there was someone there for her... She only hoped that her idle thought of marrying her child to Ranma's could still happen.

Chibi-usa looked towards her mother, to the screen and back again before wondering where that chill had come from.

Ranma was too busy trying to will the ship faster to note his feeling of impending doom, while: 

the weapon was used on Pigzilla/Ryouga. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Next arriving: Tokyo   
by Kestral

The ships had to proceed at the speed of the slowest one.

Three transports followed the Arcadia (Ranma's ship), leaving the Vindicator and Savior to stall the Titan if at all possible.

If they had raced along the surface of the planet, it would have taken them a long time. Fortunately, the order of the Emperor had been "fast as you can" and the operators of the vehicles were a little more familiar with space vehicles.

From the Mediterranean, the four vehicles went up at a steep angle to space before beginning their drop. Due to various factors like air resistance, their arrival time was cut by almost three-quarters.

beep beep "GENERAL TAKAMOTO!"

"What is it this time?" The General almost whined at the intercom. Their nuclear powered air tank weapon had been casually swatted out of the sky.

"Four UFOs approaching from NNE!"

The General lifted his head, looking up and to the left to where the radar operators were. "Are they Americans? I hear that Aurora of theirs is pretty fast."

"Speed - MACH 10 and slowing?!"

General Takamoto blinked. "Oh crap. Just what we don't need."

"Aliens Sir! Backtracking the flight plan puts them into space!"

General Takamoto considered it but couldn't resist the obvious question. "Are they good aliens or bad aliens?"

"Sir?!"

"Scramble some planes as soon as their refueled, have them go back along the flight plan. Do NOT initiate combat. Repeat NO FIRING FIRST. At that speed they'll have a hard time turning around and engaging. I want a visual confirmation that they don't have a US flag painted on 'em or something before anyone shoots anything."

"Yes Sir!"

"Coming up on Japan. ETA 30 minutes."

Hotaru looked uncertainly at the Kid's Meal she'd been given. "uhm."

"Vhill there ve anyving evse," said the vampire waitress, beginning to show the strain of the past few days.

"Nope," squeaked Sailor Moon from her position on Tuxedo Kamen's lap. She had leapt there upon the waitress coming up and didn't feel her knees were up to supporting her just yet. Honest!

"Brazed tetrasaur? Tastes like chicken. With honey mustard glaze," mumbled Makoto.

"It's not bad, but thirty minutes to go?" Rei shrugged. "Might as well hit the bathroom and stretch out before the big fight."

"That's thirty minutes to Japan, but what is our plan to fight the iron pig?" Ami asked. "We still don't have any battle plans worked out."

"We'll try our Sailor attacks first," suggested Setsuna.

"Do we have something that will affect a 300ft tall cast iron musclebound pig?" Rei asked.

"Begging the Princess' pardon, ma'am?" said a Corporal refilling glasses of tea. "Long range scans reveal that the monster is actually composed of a variety of metals, apparently absorbed by direct contact with its skin."

Rei blinked, thinking the guy looked familiar. Oh yeah. Firsten-something.

"Princess Saturn, your Gundam is ready whenever you are."

"This is Scout One to Tokyo Base."

"Go ahead Scout One."

"Approaching rendezvous coordinates."

"Make sure you're not in the predicted path of the bogeys. They're still going Mach Six and the mass on all four means maneuverability is not expected to be high."

"Roger that. My momma didn't raise me to be bugsplat on some alien windshield."

"Scout Two. Cameras are rolling."

"There. That might be-"

VHOOSH! VHUUUUMMM! VHUUUUMM! VHUUUMM!

"-them now. I think that was. Scout One still here."

"Scout Two. Computer control of camera took over as planned. Replaying and sending. Looks like... What the fey?!"

"Scout One. Scout Two. Return to base. We... What the?! I've seen that somewhere before."

"Scout Two to Base. Leiji Matsumoto designed that ship forty years ago. If aliens wanted to appear friendly, maybe they'd copy something from our broadcasts?"

"Good working theory, Scout Two. Base out."

The four ships continued to slow as they approached Japan though those onboard remained blissfully unaware as these were starships and had artificial gravity. Since Wang's days, they'd been perfected. You only felt acceleration and deceleration and fast turns when someone in command wanted you to feel them.

The Arcadia swiveled its guns towards the giant monster thumping its chest.

The Senshi attack! 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Opening Salvo   
by Kender

Those in the observation posts around the path of destruction watched as the Arcadia, or a ship damned close to it swiveled massive guns in the direction of the giant figure that had caused so much devastation. Each of the massive weapons seemed to gleam in the light, with a special shine on the tips as they gleamed in the light. Then they just sat there not doing much of anything.

And when they began to wonder what was going on, one of those in a helicopter noticed what appeared to be a little girl in a fuku standing in an opening.

"Silence Glaive Surprise!" she called out and sent an attack that exploded against the monster's chest, sending it stumbling back.

"I wanted to shoot it with the big boom..," lamented K'hei, the ship's gunnery officer.

Firstenburg shrugged. "Shooting more metal would be a bad idea, right?"

"Hmph. Stupid thing..."

"You can always use energy weapons on it, right?"

"Now you're talking!"

"Split up and keep your distance!" Pluto called out as their skimmer sped out from the ship. 

"Yeah, yeah..," muttered Mars from the where she was standing. "We don't want to get squished you know." 

"Just making sure. Venus, are you ready?" 

The blonde girl nodded. "As much as I can be." 

"Good," the Time Senshi replied, and took a deep breath. "...dead..." 

"Love And Beauty..." 

"...scream..." 

"SHOCK!" 

Not to be left out, the Fire Senshi added a "Mars Flame SNIPER! 

Already shaking its head clear of the previous strike, the monster lurched forward from the hits in its back. Reacting with great annoyance, it tried to swat the chariot out of the sky, and nearly did so. 

"Jupiter Oak EVOLUTION!" 

But the attack from the emerald eyed Senshi standing at the edge of a launch bay managed to distract it enough to allow the three to get out of the way. 

Spotting Jupiter during a flyby, Venus gave her a thumbs up. "Thanks for the help!" 

"No problem!" called out the Thunder Senshi. 

Ryouga-kaiju gave out a bellow of frustration while: 

the Arcadia opened fire on the giant. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Spatial Delivery   
by Kestral

Firstenburg knew what happened if you came up with a clever idea and implemented it during a fight without letting your superior officers know ahead of time.

He had been everything from PFC to sergeant, sometimes in the same day!

"Begging the Emperor's pardon," said Firstenburg as he linked to the comm officer on duty on the Arcadia. "That fella there is made of solid iron, right?"

"Iron, copper, steel, and a wealth of alloys," put in K'hei, a little curious as to what Firstenburg was going to pull out of his butt. Figuratively speaking that is.

"We use magnetic clamps to dock and connect shipping conduits, don't we?" Firstenburg, currently Corporal, asked with trepidation.

"Huh? There ain't enough power to affect something that big," said Specs, adjusting her glasses. "Unless... Maybe if we routed power through the main lines, but that'd blow those circuits, unless I-"

"So if we used all three ships to keep him from grabbing onto the metal in the ships?" asked Firstenburg.

K'hei considered it. "I've got the anti-aircraft ion batteries turned on the target. It wouldn't work though, even if we got the ship's engine channelling to the magnets. That sucker shifts around too much for us to balance him between us. Now if you can figure out a way to stun him long enough for us to haul him into the ocean?"

"Working on that," admitted Cpl. Firstenburg.

The three skimmers were clear. Small ports on the sides of the Arcadia opened.

Gunnery Officer K'hei got busy.

The anti-aircraft ion projectors were actually an anti-missile, anti-fighter defense. Each mini-turret could fire within a 45 degree arc and fired a lambent green "capsule" of energy that would impact shields or electronics and cause damage. They weren't that powerful but they'd been designed to fire rapidly at incoming nasties.

Ryoga-kaiju roared in pain as he got a lot of bee-sting impacts from the green ship.

As the Arcadia was a spaceship, flying out of reach of the giant monster while continuing a bombardment was fairly simple.

Ranma looked out at the giant monster and scratched his head. "I'm pretty sure I don't know any giant alien metal pig monsters, so why do I get the feeling I know this doofus?"

Cologne passed around the bowl of popcorn. "Nice of them to put on a show for us, isn't it?"

"Shampoo much much glad it happen here and not in Amazon village. Shampoo think this much mess to clean up."

Ukyo shook her head, then winced and held a hand to the bandages. She'd gotten hit by a good chunk of ceiling when the Ucchan's had been destroyed. "I just hope my insurance covers giant monsters. I know I insured for insanely powerful martial arts battles."

Akane just twitched. Somehow. Somewhere. She knew - Ranma was being a pervert.

On the screen, the big transports continued to prowl the sky overhead as the warship peppered the giant monster with green fire.

The camera suddenly panned up as another ship rocketed (literally) onto the scene.

"Mongolian Transport X73 arriving," said a rough voice. "We brought another of dese combat robots."

"Roger X73," said the Comm Officer. "Remain at 2,000 altitude. I thought production was lagging on those units."

"Dey kicke'd dem into high gear when dey heard de Emperor's birthworld was under de attack," replied the X73 pilot in a thick accent.

"Pluto to Arcadia. Whose giant robot is it?"

"X73 to Pluto. Per da most recent report, der Neptune an' de Uranus mecha be pending deir return to normal. Shipment is for da Princess -"

Venus." 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Machine Love   
by Kender

"X73 to Pluto. Per da most recent report, der Neptune an' de Uranus mecha be pending deir return to normal. Shipment is for da Princess Venus," drawled the voice from the transport.

"It's for me?!" came the Senshi of Love's delighted near-scream.

"Dat's what the order form says."

"Oh man..," Mars muttered under her breath, "I hope that thing has a mute button."

"What?" Venus asked.

"Oh, nothing!"

"Okay... So you've got a mecha just for me?"

"Yes, Ma'am," the transport officer told her.

There was the sound of giggling from her. "That's great! Now... How do you drive this thing?"

"Uh... Ma'am," protested the skimmer pilot, "I can do it..."

"What? I'm a bit busy going to get the machine of my dreams!"

"Ummm..."

"Need more speed!"

Sounds of a bit of a scuffle came through, and Pluto's voice came over the line. "Let him pilot and maybe we'll arrive in one piece."

"Ohhh... At least let me know what it is..."

"X73 to Venus," said the transport officer, "Sending image now."

Peering at the screen, Venus looked at her new mecha and saw a: 

Valkyrie. (Veritech) (Macross) 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Sailor V for Valkyrie?   
by Kestral

"Dear lord, they gave her a Macross Valkyrie."

"Pluto-san?" Mercury had never heard that particular tone of dread before.

"Well, it kind of fits," said Pluto. "She is rapid-response and as Sailor V was able to respond to a wide variety of situations."

"Sailor Venus in her Sailor Valkyrie! It's even in my colors!" Sailor Venus gushed.

It sat on the back of the transport in Vehicle mode, glistening and ready for its pilot.

At which point Ryoga-kaiju started throwing pieces of building at the ship. He hadn't seen many giant robot flicks but he knew if they were about to unleash a new weapon he didn't want to see it happen.

Venus' reaction was predictable. "AHHH! NOOOO! NOT MY BABY! VENUS LOVE & BEAUTY SHOCK! VENUS METEOR STORM! VENUS LOVE ME CHAIN!"

"Uh oh," said more than one Senshi as the first two attacks staggered the giant pig-monster and the chain wrapped around it.

Ryoga-kaiju: 

pulled the girl and her skimmer close enough to grab. Venus protests being grabbed by a giant pig. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Minako Wray   
by Kender

There was just enough solidity to the Love Me Chain for it to hold creatures in place. It had done so before, and managed to wrap around the monster's arm in this case. But as it was made from a magical attack, it wasn't metal enough to be absorbed.

Unfortunately... it was real enough to yank the skimmer over to the giant creature that had done a Godzilla impression on Tokyo.

"AiiiIIIIEEEE!" screeched Sailor Venus as she tried to hold on for dear life, and found that her attempts to use her feet to keep her on the skimmer were actually bringing it along with her.

Pluto grabbed onto a railing as the skimmer suddenly shifted direction and she was nearly tossed to the deck. "Let it GO!"

"I'm trying!"

"Not the giant! The chain!"

"What? Oh..."

"Just great," Mars muttered from where she had fallen to the floor. "He's got us and now you realise what to do..."

"Hey! How was I supposed to know?"

"Before we got caught?"

"Do you think that I like being held by a giant pig?!"

Whatever the fire Senshi was going to say was lost in the bellow from Ryouga-kaiju. He'd taken offense to the giant' part, but the 'pig', and rather than hold onto the skimmer and all the metal that he could absorb from it, he decided to do something else.

Venus found herself being grabbed from the skimmer, and held in one massive fist so that her arms were trapped against her sides. No matter how hard she struggled, it just seemed that she was stuck being held that way. All she could do was move the part of her body that was free and have images of her being squished.

"HELP!" screamed the Senshi of Love, "I DON'T WANT TO BE THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS! Well, maybe I do... BUT NOT LIKE THIS!"

Ryouga-kaiju just held aloft and bellowed at the others while: 

he decided to find a building, mountain or something to climb to get away from these jerks. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Kaiju battle intermission   
by Kestral

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Venus as she was carried around by Ryoga-kaiju.

The Arcadia had stopped firing as soon as the iron pig had gotten close to the Senshi.

Ryoga noticed that while he'd grabbed this little person, he wasn't being attacked? So now he could find Akane and explain what was going on!

Ryoga spotted some mountains in the distance. Maybe he could spot her from there!

"So what do we do? We can't hit him without possibly injuring that Princess," exclaimed K'hei.

"Maybe the nice mermaid can play some music? It worked with Okeanos," suggested Yuhri.

"Might this admittedly nonmilitary person suggest something?" came the voice of the weaselly Councilor Slipe. As he was literally a humanoid weasel (though his race would likely prefer a comparison to ferrets) he couldn't help what his voice sounded like.

 

"What would the official in charge of closet space for Mongo know about fighting giant iron pigs in an alien city?" asked K'hei, more than a little curious.

"Admittedly little," soothed Slipe. "Though it would be better to continue the fight after it reached that mountain rather than continue to fight amidst the rubble of a potentially allied city."

"He's got a point," admitted Yuhri.

Captain Steiner frowned as his ship orbited the path of Theia. "Say again?"

"Just that the longer Theia continues her path, the greater damage done to their ecosystem. Look, we had to avoid going directly over her, right?" asked the science officer.

"Yes, the turbulence from her heat emanations was increasingly difficult," pointed out the helmsman, an Ensign Checkers.

Captain Steiner wondered why all the lupine wanted to work the swing shift but dismissed the errant thought. A large section of his crew had been sent with the Emperor's ship as the Emperor had set out with such a minimal force due to hurry. "So?"

The science officer, Commander Spot, elaborated. "As her heat aura continues to superheat the air directly in contact with her, it sends out those eddies. Heat rises. That's why there's now a steady wind blowing to her from the sides and a fierce updraft above her and a slightly smaller one along her trail. She's going to cause weather disruptions in this vicinity."

"If she reaches this 'Typhon', that will be the least of their worries," said Captain Steiner. "Still, the primitives of this planet lack weather control so we probably should do something."

"Well, cannon would be useless," said Mister Shih-tzu. "The shells would vaporize before they reached her. Likewise energy weapons against that power output."

"Mebbe we should drop rocks on her?" joked Mister Checkers.

There was brief silence on the bridge.

"Worth a try," said Captain Steiner. "Ready grapnels, find us some good sized rocks and we'll see if we can't slow her down at least."

Meanwhile,

Akane is still watching all this on TV when she recognizes Ranma in his Captain Harlock uniform, standing dramatically on the deck of the Arcadia. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Seeing Things   
by Kender

Ryouga was pleased with his plan, as it meant that he had a chance to get out of all those annoyances and see if he could find Akane so that he could tell her the truth. Then he was certain that everything would be better than fine now, and he could prove that it had just been a big misunderstanding. She'd forgive him, and he'd have the chance to hopefully get a little closer to her.

All he had to do was to find her, and since he was holding his girl, he wasn't getting shot at. Which gave him a chance to go to the mountains that he'd kept in sight, and lucked out that no one had decided to move them on him. That would have been a problem, but this was working out perfectly.

He just hadn't realised that to get there, he had to hold a hostage, or that said hostage was a shapely teenaged girl in a skimpy outfit.

Because as soon as he did, he was likely to faint dead away.

"This sucks on so many levels," groused K'hei.

Yuhri shrugged. "Unfortunately we can't do much more than this."

"Which is the problem. I just wish that there was some way that we could beat this guy already."

"I do to, but it's not easy to take down a giant who can absorb the stuff you're shooting him with."

K'hei sighed and frowned darkly at the enemy. "It's too bad that we can't just blow him and everything around him to smithereens."

"That'd be a bad idea, or would you like to explain that to the Emperor and the princesses?"

"I wouldn't blow up their city. I just wish it was in the desert or something. And where's the Emperor anyway?"

"He said something about getting some air," Councilor Slipe informed her.

Ranma knew that there was a proper way of doing things like this. He'd started doing it by getting the ship and putting on the uniform. But in a situation with great devastation, and bad odds, the leader was supposed to do something before the battle swung his way, or so all those shows he'd watched as a kid had shown him.

Still, he really had wanted to get some air.

And this did give him a view of the action.

He just like the idea of posing like this, not that he'd admit it, even with the threat of a feline presence.

It was a rather odd situation if one had thought about it. Watching the devastation that was being broadcast over the television, one might think that they were merely viewing a movie. There was a sense of detachment that could set in, especially if one did not have something to remind them of the reality of the situation.

Some of those watching didn't have that luxury.

Particularly when the cameras picked up on something in particular and zoomed in on it.

Or rather, him.

"Well... that is different," Cologne murmured.

"That's an understatement," Ukyo drawled.

Akane just stared at the screen and saw something that had grabbed her attention. That wasn't something that she had expected, but for some reason, it didn't surprise her. So she had plenty of time to react to what she was seeing.

Which happened to be her fiance, wearing what looked to be a perfect copy of the uniform of 'Captain Harlock',standing dramatically on the deck of the ship that had been fighting the monster.

After a moment of absorbing that information, she considered what that could mean and came to the conclusion that he: 

had been fighting alongside the Sailor Senshi, who were all girls in short skirts, which meant that he was definitely being a pervert. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Attractive ships   
by Kestral

There were a vast number of things in the universe that could be considered a good idea.

However that would have nothing to do with the plans of Genma Saotome and his good friend Soun Tendo.

Genma popped up out of apparently nowhere. "We must drag my ungrateful son back!"

"We'll hold the wedding immediately," agreed Soun.

"You're fighting your way through an alien fleet in order to get him?" Cologne asked.

"Hmmm, she's got a point, Saotome," agreed Soun. "What are you going to do about it?"

"Me, Tendo?"

"The floor show to the side, it remains to be seen what to about Ranma's return," said Cologne. "As the last we had heard he had been kidnapped by space aliens."

"Shampoo think tight pants look very good on airen."

"It ain't often I agree with you, sugar, but I gotta say you're right on that."

"...pervert..." grumbled Akane.

"They're still involved in fighting that giant monster, so maybe we could rescue Ranma-honey while they're not looking?" suggested Ukyo.

"I don't think 'rescue' is the appropriate word," said Cologne drily. "He is not being held against his will that I can see."

Several girls in cheerleader costumes had just joined Ranma on deck. Including one with a polearm who was standing fairly close.

CRASH! BANG! STAMPEDE!

Looking at where several girls had knocked over the table, broke through the door, and charged off for another part of Tokyo, Cologne tsked over the senseless violence. Not that she was against it on general principles, just that it tended to leave a mess.

"You see, Tendo, my plan worked. Now the boy will be dragged back and we'll be able to have the wedding immediately. When Akane saves Ranma, they'll realize how much they love each other," said Genma.

"Very clever, Saotome," agreed Soun.

"You do realize that you two make an excellent argument for having the women in charge of a society don't you?" asked Cologne.

"Huh?" asked Genma.

"Never mind," said Cologne. "You remember what happened to the dojo? Crushed to splinters under the hooves of the iron pig?"

"Not a problem," Soun informed the elder. "Why - a couple of boards and a new coat of varnish and it'll be good as new."

"Hmmmm, well, are you two ordering anything?" Cologne asked pointedly.

"Well, I could use the chow mein dinner," suggested Genma.

"Just a reminder: No credit," said Cologne.

"Then no," replied Genma.

"Then why don't you leave so I can close up? We're not getting customers with the area evacuated." Cologne let a hint of menace into her voice.

"Right, we ought to go supervise anyway," said Soun, seeing a good reason to relocate.

"Readying attack," said Corporal Firstenburg. "Inertial dampeners are off line. Artificial gravity rerouted. All ships on the count of three. One."

The three ships moved equidistant to the large metal pig, forming a triangle with him at the center. Electrical arcs began playing over their hulls.

"Power to magnetic fields, 50%. Two."

"Bring up to 100% on my mark. Three."

Ryoga wondered what was going on as the three ships began lifting off in unison around him. What really shocked him was that he started lifting up in midair as well.

"Maintain current rate of ascent until reaching 200 kelekams," said Firstenburg.

"He's still got the Princess," said K'hei. "I guess that was too much to hope for."

"Once we're out of the city we can try other methods of separating the beauty from the beast," said Yuhri. "Sailor Mercury's on Comm Channel 5, she states that the Senshi transformation protects them from vacuum. So if we take big iron there, she won't be hurt."

The fiancees run into problems in their attempts to reclaim Ranma. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Problem Thoughts   
by Kender

As she broke the surface of the water, Michiru only knew three things; that she was completely nude, she was in water, and that Ranma was nowhere to be seen. She treaded water for a bit as she got her breath back and began to look around to see what was going on. The last thing that she clearly remembered at the moment was facing that giant of water, and then being confused in the water.

It was the strangest thing, but by the look of it, she wasn't a prisoner or anything of that sort, so she was pretty happy with that outcome. But that still left whatever time she had been in there before clarity returned, so she knew that she was missing some parts of the puzzle. Since just sticking around didn't do anything about that, she swam to the edge of the tank with even and measured strokes.

Climbing out, she felt a pang of disappointment that Ranma wasn't there to see the way that the water slid off of her body, and glisten on her curves. However, she was certain that there would be plenty of time to show him, and that he had to be around there some place. So she simply brushed a damp lock of hair out of her eyes and started looking around to see which way she could go.

After all, there was a kind, nice, and oh so handsome Emperor somewhere nearby, and she had to thank him for what he had done for her.

"Maybe now we should attack?" asked one of the officers.

General Takamoto frowned at the speaker. "You think we should attack when a group more powerful than us is taking a monster that destroyed much of the capital, and bringing it up into space, far, far away from our soil?"

"Well... yeah."

The General wasn't the only one that stared dully at the man.

"What?"

Akane was fully prepared to bash her pervert of a fiance for playing with cute girls while the city got wrecked. Ukyo wanted to knock some sense into her fiance and make him finally understand that his Ucchan was there for him. Shampoo just wanted to get her Airen back from the outsider girls that were with him. And Kodachi had joined in to save her Ranma-darling from the girls that were keeping him from her.

They ran into a little snag though...

"How are we going to get over to there?" the chef complained, "The army's keeping everyone from getting into the area."

The Amazon snorted. "They no can stop Shampoo. Big problem is how Shampoo get to ship going higher in sky."<> "My poor Ranma-darling," the gymnast lamented, "To be held by such powerful beings!"

"Argh!" growled the youngest Tendo, "He did that on purpose! But he isn't going to get away."

On the last part they could agree, and the four girls continued on their attempt to get to Ranma while: 

Michiru began to search the area that she was in. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Pigzilla's capture   
by Kestral

Ryoga struggled. Ryoga fought. If he had had any leverage at all, he would quickly have broken free.

Suspended by magnetic fields, Ryoga didn't have that leverage.

Michiru paused as she looked out a window and saw the monster suspended between three ships as they rose majestically into the sky. Apparently they were still fighting these titans, but she didn't remember anything to do with a muscular giant pig made of iron. Not very elegant. She looked across, the shutters over the window being retracted so that she could get a good look.

Ryoga's twisting brought him to where he could look across the intervening distance, through a window, and see the still-damp girl standing there looking back at him. He stopped and stared.

Slowly, it began to penetrate the haze in Michiru's mind that she was naked. She frowned at the ogling titan and stomped off.

ping!

Pigzilla/Ryoga fainted with a fountain of iron particles shooting from his nose.

Michiru slowed after realizing that she was still naked. Well, she could address that problem simply enough then find her cabin. "Neptune Planet Power Make UP!"

Inside her, the dart exploded as its magic went to work, infiltrating and corrupting the Senshi transformation as it had been designed to. General Mille being in charge of the Emperor's seraglio and training, she had not wanted to lose her job and had ordered this development. The weapon was supposed to latch onto the magical signatures observed when the Outers had visited Mongo and convert the Senshi into a happy and enthusiastic harem member. Of course, it had never been tested.

When it was done, the result was:

 

something very odd happens and Sailor Neptune realizes that she's fallen in love with Ranma and isn't as attracted to Haruka as she once was. Unless of course, Haruka is along for the ride. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Shift In Affection   
by Kender

The dart had been designed to turn the target into a willing member of the Emperor's seraglio. As such, she would do anything he wanted, no matter what it was, and would not only have no problem with him having as many girls as he wanted, but would want him to have him to have as many as he could. His well being and desires would be paramount to her, and she would never have any ambition to be more than he wanted her to be.

It didn't work out quite that way.

As a slight wave of disorientation spilled over Michiru, there were changes that were taking place... just not exactly the ones that were meant to happen.

Blinking away the odd feeling, she turned back to searching for the Emperor, only to realise that she had a need to see him again. Not just to thank him, and help him out, but to gaze upon him, and hopefully spend some time together. He had proven to her that he was a courageous young man who still had the time to be nice to people. She liked being around him, as it was comfortable and without artifice. This was a young man who was honest, willing and would always follow through. She could even see herself painting a portrait of that handsome visage, and knew that she could only allow herself to it with the best care that she could manage. Nothing else would do, and she hoped that he liked the way she painted...

And then she realised just why she was so afraid of disappointing him.

She was in love with him.

That made the Water Senshi stop in her tracks as she tried to figure out how that had happened. She knew that he had treated them well, and had taken care of her, but as far as she could tell, it just... came about. Feelings were tricky things, and she knew that she couldn't deny hers.

Thinking for a moment, she brought an image of Haruka into her mind. There was still a lot there, but it wasn't as much as it had been. But now she just had to think about the Emperor, and she could see herself finding ways to show him just how elegant she could be, including in the bedroom. It wasn't the same as before, and she knew that there would be a problem if she had to pick between them.

Unless Haruka joined them, in which case she wouldn't refuse. With just the blonde, it would be a good evening. Being with only Ranma would be great. Putting the two of them together would be just about the perfect way to spend the night, though she would be certain that they would be sleeping in the next morning...

Though, just spending time with the two of them, like at meals, events or simply snuggling, would be fun in and of itself.

Pondering her newly naughty thoughts, Michiru continued on walking.

"I swear that when I get to him, I'm going to show him not to be jerk!" Akane growled under her breath.

"Not to disappoint you sugar," Ukyo commented, "but just how are we going to do it. They could be in space already..."

"Argh... I can't believe this. There's got to be some way of getting there."

"Not unless Shampoo's got some sort of Amazon trick or magical artifact to do the job."

The named Amazon shook her head. "No can do. Amazon no have trick and no treasure that make user go like bird. Is not like something do in mountain village every day. Outsiders go up into sky, and would have to be very rich person to try..."

Three of the girls there looked to the fourth.

"What are you looking at?" Kodachi asked while: 

 

Haruka was changing back. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Changed Haruka  
by Kestral

Ryoga no longer needed to breathe as his hecantotheire form was sufficiently powerful at this point that he had become self-sufficient.

Which was good as he was still unconscious as the ships lifted him to outer space fairly quickly. Once there it was a matter of figuring out angles and a final tug with magnetic fields.

Ryoga Hibiki sailed unconcerned through the blackness of space, becoming an asteroid unto himself. Eventually he would end up hitting something, but that would be far from Earth. Of course, once he did - it would be Ranma's fault. Which wasn't completely fair as in this case it wasn't Ranma's idea at all.

Now it was time to turn their attention to Theia.

"I can't believe that pig grabbing me like that!" Venus huffed.

"Neptune-san!" Usagi exclaimed, glad for something to focus on besides the way the battle with Pigzilla had gone.

Sailor Neptune smiled at the Inners and Hotaru.

"I think we need to fill you in on what you missed," said Mars. "Here's what happened."

Haruka was playing with the ball when she changed, and spluttered as she tried to breathe in water briefly before she could gain the surface.

Though for some reason she didn't want to leave the ball behind. It had some kind of value to her that she didn't understand.

There was something going on. The last thing she remembered, she had been fighting that Oceanus guy and then she was waking up in some kind of big aquarium with this pool toy and...

To say the least she was disoriented.

Having hauled herself out of the water to find a nearby towel and dry herself off, Haruka tried to remember what had happened only to find vague images were all that she could bring up. The other tank there, she could picture a mermaid singing some wordless melody? The ball. The ball made her feel some remembered happiness. There had been something about the Emperor, wasn't there?

It was all very confusing.

Akane was still grumping as the "big metal pickle" (Shampoo's words) flew overhead at a distance of about 10,000 feet. "ARGGHHH! RANMA YOU GET DOWN HERE!"

"Somehow I don't think he heard you, sugar," commented Ukyo dryly.

"Shampoo wonder how to bring giant pickle down," said a certain Amazon. "If no find way go there, have to bring Ranma here."

Kodachi laughed her annoying laugh up to the point where Shampoo pulled a dumpling out of nowhere and crammed it into the open mouth.

Kodachi coughed it up and glared at the gaijin. "Fortunately for you, you have my own ability to handle tactics. I have a plan. The vessel is currently moving quite slowly due to the helicopters and pedestrian traffic surrounding it. We use that to get ahead of the vessel and then - "

Simply fly into the course of the vessel and then land upon it. Ranma will be delighted by my presence and welcome us aboard. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Playing Catch Up   
by Kender

Kodachi coughed up the dumpling and glared at the gaijin. "Fortunately for you, you have my own ability to handle tactics. I have a plan. The vessel is currently moving quite slowly due to the helicopters and pedestrian traffic surrounding it. We use that to get ahead of the vessel and then Simply fly into the course of the vessel and then land upon it. Ranma will be delighted by my presence and welcome us aboard."

"What you mean, 'your presence'?" Shampoo asked in a growl as she glared right back at the rich girl, "Husband want see Shampoo more than crazy rose girl!"

"Hmph. As if he would want to be with such a barbarian when he could have the affections of a cultured and well bred woman."

"Bred like goat?"

"Why you?!" the gymnast screeched indignantly as she pulled out her ribbon.

"Excuse me, but we do have better things to do than this," Ukyo reminded them, obviously uncomfortable at playing peacemaker. "Right Akane?"

The youngest Tendo sniffed. "I don't care how we get on that thing, only that we do. That jerk's up there and I want to give him a piece of my mind!"

"Then we're agreed. We have to get a means of flying up there so we can land on that ship. Unless someone's got a better idea?"

"Well, we could always stip the Tendo girl nude and stake her out on the flight path," Kodachi commented idly, "Then when he saw the brute like that... OOF!"

"I don't think so!" Akane yelled, still holding up the fist that she'd used to knock the gymnast out.

"Umm... Akane?" the chef suggested, "You might want to stop."

"Why should I?!"

"Because she's the only one of us that can afford to get a helicopter or a small airplane so that we can get to Ranchan, especially on such short notice, even if we combine our money."

"Grr... Then I'll get her later."

"Fine by me. Let's go then?"

"Sure," Akane growled, and started to stomp away.

"Coming Shampoo?"

"Yes, and Shampoo bring crazy girl too," the Amazon agreed as she walked along with Ukyo, with one hand dragging Kodachi along by her ponytail.

And so the four of them went on, ready to catch up to Ranma while: 

 

something else was happening. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Eclipse   
by Kestral

The method Steiner came up with was deceptively simple.

Attach a line to a large rock in space. Accelerate through Earth's atmosphere with all available power channelled into forward heat shields. Release the line at a precisely calculated point. Change descent to a loop back up to orbit at a continued high rate of speed. Repeat as necessary.

Even with things disintegrating as they hit the target, enough kinetic energy was left that the Titan was getting terribly delayed in her march towards Mount Aetna.

Blasts of fiery plasma were sent after the ship, but Steiner kept his approach angles random and his timing erratic so as to throw off any attacks on the inbound part. The speed of the ship counted for something in avoiding the attacks on the outbound part.

Thea eventually ran across areas that were not so rocky and uninhabitable. Farms and such that Steiner was less prone to blowing up. With the halt in attacks, Thea's pace increased.

Of course the air directly in contact with her superheated, which caused a massive updraft, which caused a constant wind blowing towards Thea. Adding to that was the intense heat and wind absorbing water from the environment and then heading skyward with that updraft.

The result was a bubble of clear skies surrounded by a ring of ever darkening clouds. Steiner likened it to a targeting bracket.

All he had to do was wait for it to once again cross into uninhabited space.

Thea passed the road, taking little notice of the way crops burst into flame at her approach. She didn't notice irrigation streams erupt into geysers of steam nor did she deign to notice the figures of people running away from her in the distance.

She did notice the abandoned vehicle and approached the truck, something about it drawing her with curiosity.

The tires superheated and exploded, the radiator erupted into another geyser of steam, and she dispassionately noticed both. Something there though - something commanded her attention.

While circling the vehicle, a flash of light caught her attention and she looked closer.

The mirror was distorted already by the radiant heat from ten feet away, but the female figure of glowing white radiance stared at her reflection. She brought up a hand to observe her reflection doing the same.

Eyes of red flame widened and then narrowed as memories briefly surfaced.

Thea threw her head back and screamed soundlessly as she remembered her lost humanity.

"Signal from Steiner," said Beatrix, her good eye narrowing as she watched the video feed. "Has she gone insane and is now scorching the ground in random attacks?"

"No," said Sailor Pluto, watching the feed herself. "That's the ancient writing style of the Earth Kingdom. Something must have caused her to remember her past."

"Writing? What does it say?" asked Beatrix.

"She wants released from her existence," said Sailor Pluto, looking grim. "She wants to die."

"That's all very well and good," said Beatrix, "excepting that as you've said - they're immortal. How would you kill a living solar flare?"

"You don't, but we may be able to use a magnetic bottle to get her off the planet and into space. Maybe drop her off on Io. There isn't much she could do there that the planet isn't doing to itself," pointed out Ami over a communicator.

Make it so. 

 

Emperor Ranma of Mongo: Starting Bottle   
by Kender

"Let us see. We have two choices," Beatrix said easily, "We can either try this plan, or attempt to give this being what she wants. How hard would the latter be again?"

"Impossible," Pluto commented, "Unless you've come up with some magic wand that I don't know about."

"It wouldn't be a good idea to blast her when we can do something about it, would it?" asked one of the crewmen.

The ship's captain nodded sadly. "It wouldn't be we may have no other choice." "It doesn't matter," came Ranma's voice.

"Your Highness? You have orders for us?"

"Well, I don't know 'bout this 'bottle' stuff, but I do know that we might not get another chance at this. If we can take her ta where she won't be meltin' the city, it'll be a good idea."

"I agree. You want us to take her to Io?"

"If it's the place ta go, then sure," he said.

Ami's voice crackled over the communications array again. "It would be. The entire moon is covered by massive volcanoes, and there isn't any life that we know of nearby. At the very least, she can be where she can be alone."

"Understood. Begin preparations for the operation," Beatrix ordered her crew.

Pluto watched the screen and hoped that they wouldn't be too late.

Theia watched the unfamiliar ships come closer to her, obviously trying to look non threatening. She could that they also had a plan, and were about to try something. They took up positions, and started to bring about some sort of energy field that made her body feel held somehow.

It puzzled her for a few moments, and she stood still for a few moments while:


End file.
